This morning, in conjunction with Scribd’s launch of iPaper, we’re announcing that OpenBox services will be available on shared file pages. This means files you share will be enabled with functionality from other applications. For instance, when sharing CAD files, you could install the Autodesk Freewheel service and all recipients will be able to view a preview of your file directly in their browser.

Timed perfectly for this feature is new functionality from Scribd.com. Scribd’s iPaper format will enable all your powerpoints, word files, excel spreadsheets, and PDFs to be viewed directly in a flash interface without saving it to your computer. This is perfect for any time you or the people you share with just need to view a file without making edits. This helps complete Box.net’s vision of keeping all your productivity, collaboration, and sharing directly in the web browser. No more clunky software, annoying downloads, or incompatible file formats.

For a preview of this functionality take a look at the shared file below:

http://www.box.net/shared/voxeug6wwk

This functionality is now enabled by default on all supported files, but you can disable it at any time by visiting the “Services” tab in your account and removing the Scribd service. Congrats to the Scribd team for putting this awesome feature together!
- Aaron

Box is nearly 20 people strong and hoping to bring on many more in the coming months. If you have a background in engineering, sales, marketing, or support, you may be perfect for Box! While there are over three dozen official reasons to join the Box.net team, because you’re pretty busy I’ll just share with you my top six.

1. Help Change the World. Social networking? Solved. Video sharing? Solved. Online dating for pets? Solved. At Box, we’re the leader in online storage with over 1.5 million users, and we’re heading into exciting -and less defined- areas with our collaboration and openbox platforms.

2. Learn different languages. Collectively, we’re fluent in ten different languages (not of the programming variety), and if you get lucky, you’ll be able to catch a conversation in someone’s native or second language - usually it’s French, but Farsi, Russian and German seem to be runners up.

3. Work hard, play hard. That’s the Silicon Valley way. When you’re not working to change the world, you’ll probably be grabbing a drink at Old Pro or Antonio’s in Palo Alto, or dancing at a disco in San Francisco. And if you really want to have a good time, we recommend challenging Seb at Halo or Florian at Chess.

4. Make problems, solve problems. A big part of what we do is solve problems: In our own lives, our work, our friends work, and more. For instance, one day we got sick of sending documents around in the office, so we built a solution to solve this — coming soon!

5. Free lunches. Why stop working when you can just get fed at your desk? Just kidding, we usually gather around during lunch time and fondly exchange tales of our first speeding ticket or disagree over the future of the entertainment industry.

6. Read Techcrunch in the bathroom. That’s right, the bathroom is equipped with an auto-refreshing display of technology news from good ol’ TC. Since we waste probably a couple hours of every day in aggregate in the restroom, we might as well stay fresh on industry news and our stats!

And there you have it, the Top Six reasons to join Box.net. To find out if you’re right for Box, visit www.box.net/jobs and check out the open positions. Remember, positions come with competitive salary, stock options, and all the above.

After many months in development, we’ve officially released the Beta of our new collaboration functionality. The new collaboration feature enables you to share folders with colleagues, friends, and family who also have Box.net accounts. Simply invite collaborators to any folder (a new right-click option) and those users will see the same folder appear in their accounts. Every time a new file is added, each subscribed user will receive a notification either by email or in their Updates tab.

Best of all, Collaboration is fully compatible with OpenBox, so you can edit documents in a shared folder with Zoho, photos with Picnik, and more! Everyone can participate in as many folders as they’re invited to. Free accounts, however, will only be able to create 3 collaboration folders.

And one more thing…

Due to popular demand, we’re also releasing Version history for any file on Box (premiums accounts only). Any photo or document that you’re changing or editing can now have a complete record of versions– all the better when collaborating!