Today, throughout the country and around the world, we have witnessed a remarkable moment in our nation’s history - the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. At the close of the swearing-in festivities, I was inspired by the words of poet Elizabeth Alexander.

I won’t get too deep into the meanings of the poem since that’s not what this post is about. But she had a beautiful description about all the things going on around us, people going about their business each day - simple things like, someone patching a tire, a teacher telling her students to put their pencils down, a farmer considering the weather, and a woman and her son waiting for a bus. Later in the poem was a line that went, “I need to see what’s on the other side; I know there’s something better down the road.”

Together, it made me think of all the things going on at Box and what our customers are doing every day, far and wide. We’re working on some significant changes to Box and this poem reminded me why we do what we do. It’s all for our customers and the people that need a solution like Box. As we get ready to launch the new features and enhancements this year, we’ll be thinking of you and how we can help our customers go about their business in better ways.

I’ve had a chance to try out the new Box, so you could say that I’ve seen what’s on the other side. And let me tell you, there really is something better down the road for everyone. Stay tuned.

Post by Sean Lindo, Community Manager

Without a doubt, the biggest news from CES 2009 was Palm’s announcement of the all-new Pre smartphone. The device itself seems to combine the aesthetics of an iPhone with the practical keyboard of a Blackberry in an original form factor that should make it stand out when it comes to market later this year. More significant than the hardware, though, is the revamped webOS that powers the Palm Pre. Check treocentral.com’s great coverage here.

In addition to state-of-the-art graphics and better multi-tasking capabilities, Palm’s webOS features a technology they call Synergy. The big idea behind Synergy is that it pulls information you have from different sources into one, easy-to-access place - in this case, your Palm Pre. How does it work? Take contacts, for example. You may have contacts on Google Gmail and Facebook, but webOS brings all that information into your address book automatically. Anytime one of your friends changes their picture, email address, or phone number on their Facebook profile, that information gets updated in your address book automatically, so you don’t have to manually edit such details. Synergy is intelligent because it also makes sure this information isn’t duplicated in the form of redundant contacts.

The idea behind webOS and Synergy is both powerful and forward-thinking. The foundation of Palm’s new OS is tied to the content you have on the web. Managing information in the cloud means that the information you need is always accessible and up to date, wherever you are. And you never have to think about it. It’s just there and it just works.

We look forward to trying the Palm Pre out for ourselves. While you can access Box.net on the Pre’s great Webkit-based browser, you can bet we’ll find a way to put the Box app on it!

Post by Sean Lindo, Community Manager

We are fortunate to welcome two new faces to the Box.net executive team. Jen Grant, our new VP of Marketing, comes to Box after heading up marketing on the Apps team at Google. David Lee, Box’s new Director of Product Management, comes to us from Yahoo where he was a lead product manager in their video advertising group. Previously, David was also a product manager at WebEx, where he was responsible for rolling out the popular MeetMeNow service. Together, their experiences at two of the Valley’s most storied companies will play an integral role in Box.net’s product direction and the launch of some really exciting things for 2009.

To kick off a new year on the Box.net blog, we had fun sitting down with Jen and David to learn what brought them to Box, what Google and Yahoo-ness they bring to their new roles, and the real scoop on what it’s like to work with Box.net CEO Aaron Levie. Read the full interview after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry »

While this year’s Macworld was somewhat subdued by the fact that it was Apple’s last Macworld and Steve Jobs did not deliver the keynote for the first time in a decade, it was still fun to go. I went to meet up with a few reporters and bloggers we worked with for the launch of Box.net’s iPhone app, but also just to take in the scene of Apple’s last - and my first - Macworld.

I met some really cool people, including Allison Sheridan of the Nosilla and Mac Roundtable podcasts and Veronica Belmont from Tekzilla (and former CNET and Mahalo podcaster). All of it was great, even the overpriced sandwich I had for lunch. But my top two highlights? The first, which made the show worth it all on its own, is that I got Steve Wozniak (yes, Apple’s co-founder, better known as Woz) to sign my show badge AND my iPhone! Plus I got to meet David Pogue, tech columnist for the New York Times. Really cool stuff. And I have the pictures to prove it!

What’s cool is that even though these are two big names in the tech world and Apple-lore, Woz and Mr. Pogue are down to earth, very approachable and just all-around good guys.

So, while I’m sad that Apple won’t be coming back to Macworld, I can say that their last hurrah was a blast for me personally. It’s definitely something I’ll never forget.

Post by Sean Lindo, Community Manager