Cloudhq The Easy Way To Integrate All Your Cloud Storage Accounts Into Chrome OS

 

If like me you rely on Chromebooks as your Laptop of choice but have a Microsoft Account, a Dropbox Account, a box Account as well as your Google Account you'll find that the Chrome OS Files App is lacking in integration for your other Cloud Storage Services, then Cloudhq could be the answer to your problems.

With Cloudhq you can synchronize all your Cloud Storage Services to a folder for each service on your Google Drive Account which means that you can easily get to all your important files no matter if you're using your Chromebook or a Windows or Mac Computer, and with the Sidebar Customization in the Chrome OS Files App you can even add a link directly to the folder of one of your Cloudhq synchronized services.

[caption id="attachment_2201" align="aligncenter" width="300"] box, Dropbox and OneDrive integrated into the Chrome OS files app via Cloudhq and Google Drive[/caption]

Being able to have all of your Cloud Storage Services integrated into the Chrome OS files App as well as being able to get access to them from any computer without having to sign into multiple accounts and having multiple browser tabs open, by just having one tab with your Google Drive Account open and the ability to drag and drop files without having to go through the slow uploading process is a bonus for productivity as well as convenience.

Cloudhq has multiple different Account tiers ranging from a free account that gives you 1 sync pair limited to 50 files (14 days of the Premium tier) to the Business tier that gives you 10 sync pairs with unlimited files and access to all the features of Cloudhq.

If you want to give Cloudhq a try then hit the link bellow.

Cloudhq free-$29.90/month: Try Premium Free for 30 days

Roland

Why I Moved from The Chrome OS Dev Channel

After months of being on the Chrome OS Dev Channel and being happy with how stable it was for Development builds, today I moved down to the Beta Channel due to not all websites loading properly. Now that I've moved down to the Beta Channel the websites that were not loading properly are now working fine and I was having issues with using the Gimp on RollApp app in the Dev Channel is now working with no problems.

I chose the Beta Channel as it's only one release behind the Dev Channel release it retains the folders in the App Launcher which is lost in the latest Stable Channel release, also many of the new features that are in the Development Channel are just place holders or not fully implemented yet, where as the features that are in the Beta Channel releases are fully implemented but the release might be slightly buggy.

At present I'd rather have a slightly buggy release that doesn't have features that aren't fully implemented just to have all websites that I visit or use to load properly.

It's been nice using the Dev Channel, but the Beta Channel will probably give me the best of having the latest Chrome OS release with the stability of the current stable release of Chrome OS.

Roland

Toast Real Wood Acer C720 Chromebook Cover (My Thoughts)

American company Toast have created a stylish looking Real Wood Cover for the Acer C720 Chromebook that's available from their website, the basic cover costs $50 US and comes in a plain or with the Chrome logo cut out. for an extra $5 US you can have custom text added.

There is one slight downside to these covers and that is they stick to the lid of your Chromebook and you only get one shot at putting it on, as well as once they're applied they can't be removed and re-used meaning that if you're C720 gets replaced with a new one thy you'll have to purchase a new one.

I'd love to do a proper full review of this cover, but I can't justify the $50 US plus shipping to the UK to do a review when I'm currently quite happy with my iPearl hard shell full body cover.

I'll try contacting the Toast PR Department and see if I can get a cover for review though.

Roland

My Home Office Set-up 2014

My Home Office setup isn’t like the video tours that you see on YouTube, it used to similar at one time. It’s now a lot more modest and minimalistic, but it works well for me.   So here’s my text and picture tour of my Home Office as it didn’t seem worth while doing a YouTube video. The storage part of my Home Office is an old Computer desk that houses a Box of Printer Paper, a Shredder, a Box of Envelopes and a brown box that has some Computer stuff on the bottom shelf, the Keyboard drawer has an old Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard while the top shelf has a Printer Organizer with mostly odd bits of scrap paper and the charger for my Asus Google Nexus 7, bluetooth headphones and my Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000 USB Headset & on top of it I've got my Kodak esp 1.2 AIO Printer.

[caption id="attachment_2146" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Printing station[/caption]

On the floor in front of the desk I’ve got a locking filing case that I keep all of my important paperwork and weekly bus pass in.

[caption id="attachment_2147" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Filing area[/caption]

Now onto the main part of my Office. My work area is a two-seater sofa where my Targus Slimline Netbook Case lives.

[caption id="attachment_2148" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Tech storage[/caption]

The front pocket mainly holds Headphones and Memory cards along with my 32GB Samsung SD Card, Pens, my Samsung Galaxy SIII Mini, a keyboard dusting brush and the charger for my Acer C720 Chromebook.

[caption id="attachment_2149" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Accessory storage[/caption]

The main compartment holds my Acer C720 Chromebook in an iPearl hard shell full body cover, my Asus Google Nexus 7 (2012), External USB 3.0 HDD and the power cord for my Acer C720 Chromebook.

[caption id="attachment_2150" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Main storage 2[/caption]

The great thing about this setup is that I'm always ready for going on the road, as all I've got to do is attach the shoulder strap for my Targus Slimline Netbook Case and I can leave the house with my bag.

[caption id="attachment_2151" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Static to mobile office with the case shoulder strap[/caption]

This probably isn't one of the best Home Office setups around but a Home Office isn't always about large desks and dedicated room, but something that can go from static to mobile office and as long as your setup works for you, and ever since I started my blog in 2010.

Here is a couple of pictures showing how versatile my Home Office setup is.

[caption id="attachment_2148" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Home Office[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2158" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Mobile Office[/caption]

Roland

New App Launcher Position Coming To Chrome OS

Google are experimenting with having the Chrome OS App Launcher in the middle of the Desktop compared to the normal Desktop OS position of in the lower left hand side of the Desktop, at present the new App Launcher position is hidden behind a Chrome flag.

[caption id="attachment_2137" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The current position of the Chrome OS App Launcher[/caption]

In my mind the new position of the App Launcher in the middle of the Desktop is more suited to touchscreen Chromebooks than to none touchscreen Chromebooks. This new middle of the Desktop position could also mean that Google are toying with the idea of removing the App Launcher from the shelf and turning the Search key into a Chrome Key, since the Search key also opens the App Launcher, or Google are toying with the idea of an Arm based Chrometab and an intel based Chrometab Pro.



I prefer the traditional position of the App Launcher being positioned in on the lower left hand side of the Desktop & hope that once it’s implemented the Chrome flag stays to allow it to be put back to where it currently is or they add an option to change it back in Settings.

 

Now over to you the reader do you prefer the App Launcher in it’s current position or does the new position sound better?

 Roland

USB 3.0 2.5" HDD/SSD Enclosure Review

 

My USB 3.0 HDD enclosure came to-day so here is my promised review.

The enclosure is mad of a piece of gloss black plastic while the frame that holds the SATA to USB 3.0 interface along with the HDD is made from matt black plastic. The whole enclosure fits together with plastic clips that snap the enclosure cover to the HDD holder, making for a rather neat looking screw free finish.

When copying the same .mp4 HD video file as I used in my Samsung SD Card review to the internal SSD of my Chromebook it was maybe a little slower than from SD Card to internal SSD and copying back to the HDD was considerably slower than from internal SSD to SD Card.

The bottle neck in writing to the HDD is more than likely due to the fact that I'm using a HDD that came in my Windows Laptop that I've had since 2010 until I upgraded the HDD in the Laptop to a 1TB HDD. I'll probably upgrade the USB HDD for an SSD at some point in the future so as not to lose any data.

The enclosure is so much thinner than my old one that it fits into the front pocket of my Laptop bag without looking too bulky.

Roland

Samsung 32GB Class 10 SD HC Memory Card Review

 

The 32GB Samsung SD Card that I ordered last Thursday came in the post today like it was estimated to on eBay, so here is my promised review.

The one that I ordered has a black back casing where the contacts are and an Orange top and Lock switch with a Silver label on the Orange top, and since it's going to spend most of its time in my Acer C720 Chromebook which only has a shallow SD Card Slot that just allows the front of the SD Card where the contacts are to fit in with enough of the card inserted to hold it in firmly I wanted an SD Card that looked the part with my Chromebook and this card fits the bill nicely as the Orange band that s visible and the silver label go nicely with the graphite look of the C720 and the Orange case that I've got on it.

Transfer speeds from the internal SSD in the Chromebook to the Samsung SD Card are snappy but I've only tried with a small Calendar.ics file, but when copying and pasting a HD Video to the SD card from a 2.5" SATA HDD in a  USB 2.0 enclosure it took a little longer, but that's probably down to using a USB 2.0 HDD instead of a USB 3.0 HDD, but when I get my USB 3.0 HDD enclosure I'll be able to see as I'll do the same transfer test in the review. Playing back HD video is smooth and problem free, due to it being a Class 10 U1 I rated SD Card.

The only time that I've put this memory Card in my Windows Laptop was when it came so I could re-format it to give it a volume name of my choice instead of the default sd card name in Chrome OS.

[caption id="attachment_2125" align="aligncenter" width="300"] My Chrome OS File Manager showing my SD Card with the volume name Chrome SSD[/caption]

This SD Card was a bargain for a genuine Samsung SD Card as most high-capacity SD Cards are usually fake that are sold on eBay.

I'll of course do a follow-up review after I've used the Card for a few weeks. Also stay tuned for my USB 3.0 HDD enclosure review coming soon.

Roland