Online backup service Backblaze has unveiled its iPhone app to the world that allows customers to have access to their backed up files anywhere they are. Called Backblaze Mobile, it is set to make its debut in the Apple App Store in the coming weeks.
Days after tripling its hard drive restore program limits to 3 TB, Backblaze is back at it again to help its customers feel in control of their data. With more than 45 million GB of photos, music, movies, documents, and other files continuously backed up, Backblaze Mobile enables a user to access, view, and download their files stored in the Backblaze backup of their PC, Mac, or external hard drive right to their iPhone.
With Backblaze Mobile, customers can log in and do one of the following:
- See all PC and Mac computers they currently back up
- Select files from backed up computers and external hard drives
- View and download photos, songs, movies, and other documents
- Access previous versions of these backed up files
- Print, text, email, post to Facebook and Twitter, or save the files to the device’s camera roll
The service is free for anyone who is a Backblaze customer and will work regardless of whether the backed up computer is offline.
Backblaze is the last of the major backup services to release a mobile app — both Carbonite and CrashPlan not only have an iPhone version, but also something for Blackberry, Android, and/or Windows Phone devices. All of the apps allow customers to not only view their backed up data, but also download it right to their phone for easy viewing and sharing.
Perhaps Gleb Budman, CEO of Backblaze, believes that the company’s restoration numbers is something that will separate itself from the competitors. Recently, he told us that Backblaze has restored 2.5 billion files for its customers. In December alone, it restored an average of 5.7 million per day. What the company also found was that 22 percent of all recoveries contained a single file and it realized customers were using the service to access files remotely.
It appears that Backblaze is serving two roles: it is functioning as a backup service and almost like it was another version of Dropbox, where people accessed files, made revisions or changes, and pushed it back to be stored away.
Although not available in the Apple App store right now, the company says it will be in the coming weeks. For those interested in downloading the app, they can go to Backblaze’s website to sign up to receive a notification when it’s out.
Photo credit: Scott Barbour/Getty Images
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