today introduced SugarSync, the first-ever solution that seamlessly synchronizes both Mac OS and Windows computers, mobile phones and the Web. Built on the company’s patent-pending Universal Synchronization Platform, SugarSync’s powerful software-service combination gives people the easiest way to keep digital media and files automatically in sync across multiple computers, backed up online and remotely accessible from their mobile phones or through any web browser.

SugarSync is available for free trial at http://www.sugarsync.com/. Through a special Founders’ Circle promotion, anyone subscribing to the service by April 15th will receive 50% off his or her first year’s subscription fees and become eligible for future Founders’ Circle offers and exclusive early access to new Sharpcast products.

SugarSync consists of five core components that work together automatically:

1. Lightweight sync manager software for Macs and PCs that works in the background to automatically synchronize files across multiple computers and back them up online
2. A personal, secure website, including a built-in photo gallery, that is automatically created and can be accessed through any web browser for remote access and sharing
3. A mobile-optimized website that is automatically created for wireless access and sharing of files stored on any of a customer’s computers from any mobile web browser, with a special version for iPhones
4. An optional mobile phone client application that synchronizes camera phone images (and other media types beginning this spring) with the customer’s personal website and all their computers; and enables them to access and share their entire digital photo collection wirelessly
5. A universal contact list that stays in sync across all the customer’s devices and their personal website for sharing files and media

SugarSync fills the many gaps in functionality and user experience left by contemporary backup solutions that don’t provide remote access and require individual subscriptions for multiple computers; remote access services which require a person’s primary computer to be online; mobile services which require manual file transfer over cables or storage cards; and traditional peer-to-peer synchronization solutions that require all devices to be connected at the same time and don't address any of the increasingly important mobile use cases. SugarSync overcomes all of these problems with a single solution designed from the ground up for simple “set-and-forget” synchronization.

“As we transition to a multi-device world, a distributed application experience becomes more critical – one that works automatically across multiple devices and the Web,” said Gibu Thomas, founder and chief executive officer of Sharpcast. “SugarSync offers a delightful experience that works completely automatically and transparently, so people can enjoy their digital life from any device. It is time to say goodbye to tedious file uploads and downloads, emailing files around, manual backup processes, sync cables and environmentally unfriendly practices like leaving your computers online all the time to remotely access files.”

SugarSync uses Sharpcast’s real-time “push” sync technology to keep all of a person’s computers and mobile devices continuously in sync, such that changes made on any device are automatically made everywhere else – or if any device is offline at the time, the changes occur instantaneously and without manual intervention the next time the device is connected. SugarSync brings the powerful “push” sync experience, thus far restricted to enterprise email applications, to mainstream consumers for all their important files, such as documents, music and photos.

As people accumulate more and more digital media fragmented across their various devices and online services, it becomes increasingly challenging to navigate and enjoy that media. Most contemporary solutions offer only a subset of the functionality people need, limiting their support to only certain media types, and requiring too many manual steps or changes in user behavior. SugarSync offers a comprehensive service that is simple to set up and easy to use, is completely automatic, fits into the user’s current workflow, and solves several daunting problems at once. Sample uses for SugarSync include:

1. Sync files across multiple household and work computers – both Macs and PCs
2. Auto-upload files to a personal website for anytime access and secure backup
3. Access files residing on a home or work computer remotely, regardless of whether or not that computer is turned on and connected to the Web
4. Sync changes made to your files remotely through any Web browser back to any designated folder on your home or work computer
5. Keep files, photos, music and video continuously backed up and organized automatically online for sharing without any manual or scheduled uploads
6. Archive files online to free up computer hard drive space
7. Automatically sync camera phone photos back to a Mac or PC hard drive
8. View and share files located on any computer from a mobile phone

When the SugarSync software is installed on a desktop computer, it creates a personal website for secure access to synced media and files through any desktop or mobile Web browser. Changes made to folders or files from a person’s computer are automatically synchronized to the personal website for backup, remote access and sharing, thus eliminating manual uploads. The personal websites are optimized for browsing and sending files on mobile phones. An enhanced iPhone version of the SugarSync website makes mobile access on iPhones fast and intuitive.

With SugarSync’s instantaneous multi-directional sync, changes made through the website are also made on designated folders on all of the user’s computers automatically, making the online experience seamlessly integrated with the on-device experience – the first-ever such comprehensive experience delivered for consumer media.

SugarSync personal websites also present photos automatically in an online gallery, for easy remote sharing, viewing, and commenting. Sharpcast will introduce more media-specific sections of the personal website over the spring and summer for other media types.

In addition to the personal website that can be accessed on any web-enabled phone, SugarSync includes client applications for Windows Mobile phones (version 5.0 and higher) and the BlackBerry Pearl, Curve, and 8800 series phones. These clients provide a fast, multi-way sync experience that synchronizes photos taken on a camera phone to the customer’s personal website and all the way to their computer hard drive.

They also give users speedy access to their entire digital photo collections on their phones completely wirelessly, automatically aggregating all the photos from all their computers so that pictures stored anywhere can be viewed and shared from the phone with no manual uploads, downloads, sync cables or emailing required.

Sharpcast will extend the mobile sync client capability over the spring and summer beyond photos to other media types. The company has also built wireless mobile sync capability for non-smartphone platforms like Brew and Java, and is working with wireless service providers to bundle and distribute those services.

SugarSync is available at any of the subscription levels below with a free 45-day trial. Special Founders’ Circle pricing is available until April 15, 2008.

Thank You Offer for SugarSync Beta program members and Sharpcast Photos subscribers

Additionally, to thank the members of the SugarSync Beta program and customers of the company’s first product, Sharpcast Photos, whose loyalty and valuable feedback has helped make SugarSync a delightful user experience, Sharpcast is extending the Founders’ Circle 50% discounted price for an additional year.

Sharpcast also licenses the Sharpcast Universal Synchronization Platform technology and applications to wireless operators and device OEMs for white-label distribution. For operators looking for a comprehensive three-screen strategy, the Sharpcast platform meets the most stringent criteria for a best-in-class, all-in-one user experience for backing up, accessing, sharing, and enjoying digital media from anywhere. Over four years in development, it’s the industry’s only true push sync platform for consumer media delivering a delightful and simple user experience.

This device- and media type-agnostic platform is built on patent-pending sync protocols optimized for transmission over wireless networks and the Internet, and delivers a single converged digital media experience for consumers across desktop computers, web, mobile devices and television screens. The platform includes an online digital vault; a sync manager bridging customers’ various devices; a media transcoding engine dynamically repurposing media to meet the constraints of diverse devices and wireless networks; application modules that run on a wide variety of platforms for easy management of specific media types; and APIs for connecting to third-party applications, web services and online social networks. All data is secured in geographically redundant carrier-grade data centers.

About Sharpcast 

A team of wireless and consumer internet industry veterans with a proven track record for building large-scale wireless data systems and successful internet businesses founded Sharpcast in 2004 with a mission to make digital life simple. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.