BusinessWeek is currently holding its annual “America’s Best Young Entrepreneurs” contest.  You can view all of the finalists here and place your votes now through November 2, 2009.

Here are the NYC-based companies on the list (in alpha order):

• Drop.io (our coverage)
• GiveReal
• Hercules Networks
• Tumblr (our coverage)
• VIVO Natural Products

Most of the companies are headquartered on the East Coast! Go checkout all of the listed companies and then vote for a NYC-based company.

Find more stories about: contest, Drop.io, nextNY, NYC, tumblr

NY-based file sharing service Drop.io has announced a new partnership with Yahoo today. The partnership brings a new application named “Attach Large Files” directly as part of the applications menu within Yahoo Mail.

When you want to attach a file up to 100mb to a Yahoo email, the Attach Large File app creates a drop.io share, uploads the file to it, and attaches a link to the drop.io share inside of the email. In my testing, the application worked well.

The drop.io team notes that the app was built on top of the drop.io API. The app is a default and is available directly in the “applications” menu inside of Yahoo Mail. While I don’t see using the service for uploading a simple image or Word doc, for larger videos or photos it could work very well. And the offering should provide more visibility for drop.io to a mainstream audience.

Here’s a video overview of how the Attach Large Files application works:

Related: Three alternatives to WebEx

Find more stories about: Drop.io, email, mail, nextNY, NYC, yahoo

I participate in a good number of “virtual” conferences mainly software demos from companies that either want some feedback or are pitching a story. Most of the conferences use either WebEx or GoToMeeting. Today on the nextNY list, David Reinke from StyleHop asked for some alternatives that are either free or lower cost than GoToMeeting and/or WebEx. The group provided a few suggestions and they are listed below.

Adobe Acrobat Connect Now

Hank Williams suggested Adobe Acrobat Connect Now which provides a free service up to 3 participants. For over 3 and up to 1,500 the Pro version is available for $0.32/min/user. The tools include remote control, whiteboard, desktop sharing, video conferencing and unique meeting URLs. I’ve only used the tool once and if I remember we had some issues getting the meeting running but after it started all went smoothly.

Yugma

Yugma was my suggestion and an application we reviewed back in January 2007. Yugma offers Skype integration, desktop sharing, teleconferencing, file storage and meeting recording. Yugma runs using Java. Up to 20 participants is free and Pro plans start at $15 and go up to $180/month. I like Yugma because there’s no app to install unlike WebEx and the various times I’ve used the service, it’s worked well.

DimDim

Peter Chislett offered up DimDim as an alternative suggestion. Peter notes, “All features (video, screen sharing, voice, document sharing, whiteboard, etc.) are no-fee for an audience of 20, pro-version
thereafter. Webcam is limited to one in the free version.” The Pro version is available at $20/month for meetings up to 50 people. DimDim offers a slick widget to allow site and blog visitors to participate in a conference call or meeting. DimDim is available as open source so you can add it to your own applications.

Do you use one of the three above or another solution? Leave your thoughts in the comments and I will add them to the post.

Find more stories about: Drop.io, mobile, Web 2.0, Yugma

Late last week I was contacted by Drop.io co-founder Sam Lessin to check out their newest launch. Today their updated file sharing platform went live — you can read about the updates on ArsTechnica and on the Drop.io blog. The basic idea is that files you upload are available to people you’ve shared the "file drop" with instantly along with the ability to chat on any file drop.

As I was sitting in the barber chair this morning reading the various posts on the launch, one thing appeared to be missing from every post. The missing piece in all of the posts is that Drop.io’s business model is based on upgrades. For drop.io, more drops is really meaningless except for a stat to share with the media. The key is getting people to either pay to upgrade the size of their file drops or get companies into their "manager" program which is also fee-based.

I am curious as to whether today’s updates will push people into either paid option listed above. The more I thought about it on the subway, I couldn’t find a solution that pointed to yes. The new features will certainly be used which is great for overall system usage.

When you offer a freemium model, the key should always be to push users into the paid options. Conversion is of utmost importance. Unlike most services, Drop.io isn’t showing ads to their free users making those accounts completely free of revenue.

I am sure that Sam has a plan with regards to pushing people into upgrades that will generate revenue for the company. I am sharing my thoughts here because getting users moved into paid plans is a question I am often asked. I continue to believe that if you are offering a freemium model, you need to offer as little as possible to keep people using the service for free while always trying to push them to upgrade. At the same time, you should always give your free customers a taste of what’s available behind the pay wall.

Find more stories about: Drop.io, Freemium, money, nextNY, NYC, Quick News

NY-based private file sharing service Drop.io has announced the launch of geo-location based drops. The concept works like this — you upload files into your drop. Once uploaded you can tag the drop with a location. Users can search on locations and drops that are set as public will be returned. Some examples would include: "Grand Central", "London’s Speaker’s Corner" or "Berlin Ubahn". For this new location service to be effective, they will need a large number of drops to identify their location so searches return actual results.

The Drop.io Location functionality utilizes Skyhook Wireless’ Loki JavaScript API for the location detection services. Drop.io’s CEO Sam Lessin says today’s launch could help drive a "location-publishing platform".

This new location service is an interesting change for Drop.io. When the service launched, everything was about privacy and the private nature of drops. The idea was that the only way to find a drop was to know the specific URL. Today’s location announcement changes that – drops can now be indexed…will they be indexed in Google next?

Check out our video interview with the Drop.io team along with all of our Drop.io coverage.

Update: Drop.io CEO Sam Lessin left a comment which I thought those of you on the feed might be interested in. "just to clarify, drops cannot be indexed by search or otherwise… we have measures in place to block that from http://location.drop.io just as we do on the core site. Users don’t need to set a location, so the total privacy/publicity of dropped content remains 100% at the users control across the full spectrum.

the feature will be live momentarily and a full explanation is at http://drop.io/dropiolocation/

we are very very excited about this new feature and it will become an interesting new flexible way to use drop.io simple private sharing platform"

Find more stories about: Drop.io, gigaomnews, local, localization, nextNY, NYC, Quick News

NY-based private file sharing service Drop.io announced today the launch of a new view into the files you upload into "drops". The new view is called system view and allows for a variety of new file viewing options. The new system view interface includes: thumbnail and details views,shortcut keys, and multi-select functionality.

Drop.io also integrated PicLens for immersive gallery view. PicLens creates a very slick image slideshow. Check out the PicLens review on ReadWriteWeb from earlier this year. 

Drop.io also launched a variety of new features including: multi-asset moves, mp3 updates and a business card creator.

Check out our exclusive video interview with the Drop.io founders. Here’s a screenshot of what the new Drop.io system view looks like:

Find more stories about: Drop.io, NYC, Quick News

Tuesday morning – last slots open now – see details for registration below.

I am very excited to announce that the next CenterNetworks party will be held on June 26, 2008 at Drop.io’s brand new headquarters right over the Brooklyn Bridge. The party is a joint production of CN and Drop.io and is sponsored by RRE Ventures.

It should be a great evening of networking with some of the top names and talent in the NYC Web scene. There will also be mood rooms including a Wii room with bowling contest (ya’all are going down), a Rock Band room and a karaoke room.

No demos, and no cover charge – just fun. Oh yea, and the best part – Grimaldi’s pizza!

To RSVP, send an email to rsvp@dropio.com and include your name and company. We are opening 75 slots today and will continue to open more over the next few days so everyone has a chance to get in.

Details:

• Date: June 26, 2008
• Time: 6-9 pm
• Location: Drop.io HQ
• Directions: http://drop.io/worldhq

The drop.io team and I look forward to seeing you next week!

Find more stories about: Drop.io, Quick News

This morning I headed down to DUMBO (a neighborhood in Brooklyn) to check out the new Drop.io office. It’s a great loft-style space that looks like the team can easily expand past their current headcount.

CN was the first media outlet to cover Drop.io on their alpha launch last November. Drop.io is a private, discreet file sharing service. This means you can share files with only the people you want. The most simple example is a designer who wants to show his or her sketches to their client without putting them on a public file server. Drop.io handles nearly all media types and offers a variety of methods to view the files including rss, mobile and a new embed option for videos.

Drop.io uses a variety of Amazon tools on the backend and in the interview below they note that Drop.io users have already stored several terabytes of data. What makes this even more significant is that Drop.io expires data — so the reported figures are "active" stats.

One of the issues Drop.io faces is gaining brand awareness. Drop.io may have trouble getting brand recognition becuase its content is all private unlike other file sharing services which promote themselves as people share the content stored on the service.

Darshan and Sam have provided CN with ten free premium upgrade codes. Leave your information in the comments (do not leave your email in the comment, just in the email field) and I will send you an upgrade code.

Check out my interview below with co-founders Darshan Somashekar and Sam Lessin.

Find more stories about: Drop.io, Interviews, nextNY, NYC

Last night at a secret location in NYC, file sharing service Drop.io held their launch party. The biggest names in NYC tech came out for the party which was held on the snowiest day in NYC in years. Mashable’s Pete Cashmore and CNET’s Caroline McCarthy were part of the all-star jounalists to show up as well. There is a drop setup for the party with photos, videos and other media. Check out all of our previous drop.io coverage.

Here are some photos from the evening (all photos):

Huge banner outside at the secret location

The Drop.io Team – love the 80s Sheena Easton headbands!

McCarthy, Cashmore and some Random Dude

Find more stories about: Drop.io, Quick News

Day #4 in the Ten Days of Holiday Gifts comes to you via Drop.io. Drop.io is a very simple, no-signup, private media sharing site that can be used for all types of things – posting resumes, sharing photos, or collaborating on business documents. Check out our coverage of Drop.io for more information about how it works.

Drop.io is also announcing the launch of their upload widget service today. Drop.io wants users to take its widget and "drop" them all over the web – creating little tunnels all across the web to allow users to share files privately with each other. Blogger, MySpace, WordPress, etc. are supported (Facebook isn’t yet but they say that’s coming soon). This could be a great way for bands to allow fans to send photos in, recruiters to collect resumes, or friends to send media between each other.

Just for readers of CenterNetworks, Drop.io is offering 15 Free Drop Upgrades! The first 15 of ya’all to send in a request using our contact form gets them! Be quick!

(I’ve turned off comments on this post to avoid any entry confusion and I will note this post once the codes are gone.)

Here is the view widget:

drop.io: simple private sharing

Find more stories about: Drop.io, holiday gifts, Quick News

I’d like to thank each one of you for your loyalty and patronage over the past year. I’ve got a full recap coming but it’s simply amazing where CN has grown and of course it’s thanks to each of you. Like the Wine Man says, "It’s a lot of you and a little of me and together we are changing the tech industry." (I tweaked it a bit).

With that said, I’ve been working hard to line up a variety of exclusive Holiday Gifts for you. Over the next ten business days, there will be one gift each day. From service discounts, to premium beta access to free conference passes, we’ve got something you will like!

In the graphic below, you will note one slot with ??? in it. That’s because I have left one slot open. I’d like your feedback on who should fill that slot and I will go after them! Leave your ideas in the comments. And if you have a service to offer as a treat, contact us. It can’t be a free service is the only rule.

Here’s who’s participating — pretty impressive lineup!:

• OurStage – 12 free song downloads – get holiday gift
• Compete – free credits towards the search analytics tool – get holiday gift
• Clicky – two free pro accounts – get holiday gift
• Freshbooks – 30% off new subscriptions – get holiday gift
• TapeFailure – 40% off new subscriptions – get holiday gift
• Drop.io – free premium upgrade codes – get holiday gift
• CrazyEgg – Some pro accounts – get holiday gift
• Future of Web Apps in Miami – 5 free conference passes – get holiday gift
• CenterNetworks – 50% off job board posts – get holiday gift

Update: Please DO NOT signup for TapeFailure – the site will be closing at the end of this month :(

You won’t know which Holiday Gift will come which day nor what time – so be on the lookout! Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to All!

Find more stories about: CenterNetworks, Clicky, Compete, CrazyEgg, Drop.io, FreshBooks, future of web apps, OurStage, Quick News, TapeFailure

Some NYC funding news this Monday evening. Yodle has picked up $12 million and Drop.io picked up $1.2 million.

Yodle

Yodle has raised a second round of financing to the tune of $12 million led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, with existing investor Bessemer Venture Partners also participating in the round. Yodle helps small businesses purchase online ads. They will use the funding for a national rollout. Yodle helps connect customers with small businesses by taking out the pain of handling campaigns on their own.

From their release, "Today, 63 percent of consumers primarily search for local businesses online; Yodle is tapping this enormous advertising market to drive customers to businesses in a way that has never been done before.  With Draper Fisher Jurvetson’s financing, we will be able to complete our national rollout and offer our services to small businesses across the country,” said Court Cunningham, CEO of Yodle."

Drop.io

Drop.io has raised a Series A round of financing to the tune of $1.25 million led by RRE Ventures. Mashable has the details which include two new board announcements: Managing Partner Stuart Ellman of RRE Ventures and Andrew Weinreich, CEO of MeetMoi.

Check out our launch review of Drop.io from earlier this month.

Find more stories about: Drop.io, nextNY, NYC, Quick News, Venture Capital, Yodle

A new file and media sharing service out of NYC called Drop.io launched its alpha late last week. It is decidedly different in approach than the other file sharing services currently available. I sat down with founders Darshan Somashekar and Sam Lessin at their office in NYC.

I asked for an overview of the Drop.io service and Darshan replied with, “with Drop.io we stripped media sharing online to its essence. We took out personal registration and the entire concept of ‘accounts’. There is no search, and no network. In as little as two clicks you can create as many separate drops as you want, making it the easiest way for people to privately upload and share virtually anything with just the people they want.” I think of it as semi-private to private sharing as the only way to find a drop is to know the specific URL and, if set, password.

There are many applications for Drop.io. The one that immediately stands out to me is work collaboration space. Need to show files to a client? Use Drop.io. Or if you are working in a team and need to share files back and forth, Drop.io offers a better, cleaner, quicker interface than say DropSend or YouSendIt. Clients and coworkers can email files into a specific drop making it seamless to the client.

Sam noted a social example of how the site has been used when a test user set up a drop before going on a closed group trip. The user told the participants where the drop was and everyone on the trip emailed and uploaded in media during/after the trip all to one private place.

I can see companies using Drop.io for presentations as it will house all of the needed files in an easy location for a specific time period. Families can use the tool to categorize trip memories for other family members, or even as a really easy blogging tool that the whole family can update and view.

Drop.io handles almost any file type, Web links, notes and emails. Audio and video are supported and PDFs are viewable within the Drop.io site. Sam said that other document types (word/excel/etc) are coming soon and also commented, “Some sites only support specific types of media. Drop.io converts pictures, video, audio, and documents, to web friendly formats and whatever we don’t know how to convert we will just store “. I created several drops and found it easy-to-use and non-technical. The non-technical part is important if Drop.io wants to gain mainstream acceptance. You can setup a password to use with the drop and also an admin password for making changes to the drop after it has been created.

Check out the official sample drop and my test CenterNetworks drop.

The business model that Sam and Darshan discussed is based around one time micropayments upgrading ‘drops’. Upgrades to 1 gig of space and other premium options will be available for a small fee per drop. They hint that there are many more upgrades and customizations that they will be releasing over time.

What I would like to see is a variety of social sharing options. For example a Facebook application to share with the friends you want to. A button to direct message on Twitter. I get that drop.io is not for sharing to the world, but I still need an easy way of sharing the drop link that I create.

Darshan and Sam have provided CN with ten free premium upgrade codes. Leave your information in the comments (do not leave your email in the comment, just in the email field) and I will send you an upgrade code.

Sam left me with the following, “We’ve really just kicked off – we’d say this is an ‘Alpha’ launch, but the term has basically lost all meaning anyway. We would love everyone to play around with the site and send us their thoughts/any bugs. We are going to be refining the site directly out of the user feedback. And if you’re a Ruby programmer, we’d love to hear from you – we have some interesting stuff in the oven.”

Find more stories about: Drop.io, nextNY, NYC, Reviews