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Enterprise cloud storage provider Box.net is launching a new version of its software that includes a front-facing interface built from scratch and additional mobile features, the company announced today. The new Box.net interface is a mash-up of micro-blogging activity streams like FriendFeed and online storage like Dropbox. Box users can drag and drop files from their computer directly onto the site to send files into cloud storage. There are also folders that are synched up directly with the cloud, like Dropbox, that automatically update files as they are changed. Users can preview those files directly within Box.net - and the software supports a lot of file formats. Box developer Kim Lockhart showed off the capabilities by opening up Adobe Illustrator files within the web interface and previewing other files from Photoshop and the like. Whenever any file is viewed, commented on or changed, Box.net users get an update on their activity feed. "This basically kills the software problem," Lockhart said. "You can view files like illustrator files and pretty much anything else as we move forward without ever having to have the software." The idea was to remake the front-facing application from scratch because it was becoming too complicated with too many features. Box.net released a new update just about every week last year and added more and more features, and that was clouding up the service and making it too complicated for some end users, said Box.net CEO Aaron Levie. While Box is mainly focused on the enterprise, Levie said Box had plenty of potential in the consumer space - to compete with cloud storage providers like Dropbox and the like.

File Transfer is Not What It Used to BE.  FTP, email attachments, FTP appliances, DropBox

Real-time co-creation and co-editing: With Novell Vibe, people in your organization can author and edit online documents together, character by character, in real time. Teams can dramatically accelerate the completion of projects that used to take weeks. Because collaboration unfolds in a shared workspace, no one has to manually merge content from multiple contributors to create a unified, finished document. Enterprise social messaging: As easy to use as Facebook or Twitter, Novell Vibe consolidates direct messages, chat, blogs and wikis from within Novell Vibe into one message stream. Creating new groups and inviting members from inside or outside your organization is as simple as sending an e-mail. You can even jumpstart ad-hoc conversations in seconds to tackle projects that can't wait. File synchronization and management: Files on your desktop, regardless of authoring application, can be synchronized to the Novell Vibe file repository based in the cloud. As a result, users always work with the latest versions of important files on their desktops and in Novell Vibe. The Novell Vibe unified message stream: Direct messages, social feeds and group conversations from within Novell Vibe are unified in one intuitive interface. This eliminates the need to constantly switch between locations to see all your content. Using powerful filtering, sorting and tagging capabilities, you can determine exactly what you want to see and whom you want to follow. Advanced information management: Novell Vibe keeps a persistent record of all your work and conversations. Its comprehensive search function quickly locates files, messages, attachments, groups and people to save time and boost productivity.

Very cool stuff.  Keep in mind that JoliCloud is Linux, based on Google Chrome OS.  I wonder how much of this is built into Chrome OS, or was done by JoliCloud? Jolicloud (news, site) has recently launched version 1.2, introducing several features and renaming the locally-installed cloud operating system into Joli OS. Among its latest additions was Dropbox integration into the file manager. In an update, Jolicloud has also announced better Google Docs integration for easier management, previewing and editing of online documents.