I just want to thank everyone who not only read, but participated in a post we did on the Box Upload Widget. We included a public dropbox for people to try the upload widget and got lots of cool submissions. As a follow-up, we thought it would be fun to create a montage from the images we received. After all, what montage is complete without the $2,000 Tata Nano and Elvis? Our thoughts exactly.

If you send us a story and a cool example of what you did with the Box upload widget, let us know. We’ll pick someone to receive some fun Box swag!

Special thanks to Phil Sheffield, Box’s Lead Web Designer for putting the montage together.

Post by Sean Lindo, Community Manager

Many Box users already know that they can edit Word documents, tweak images or electronically sign PDFs within their browser using one of the many third-party services built into Box. These features are made possible through our OpenBox platform, which we blogged about last week.

I would like to highlight a new service we’re adding to Box from a company called iSpeech, an innovative text-to-speech tool that can convert your text documents - in this case, the documents you have on Box - into audio files you can listen to on your computer, sync to your iPod/MP3 player or stream on your iPhone/iPod touch via the Box.net mobile application. Just like audiobooks and podcasts, it allows you to listen to and absorb written content within documents while you’re busy with other tasks. For example, you may be traveling on business and have a long commute ahead, or you’re stuck at an airport waiting for your delayed flight to take off.  There’s a project plan or some research papers your manager wanted you to take a look at while you’re away. Using the new iSpeech service, you can take these documents and convert each of them into audio files you can listen to anytime.

To use this application, visit our OpenBox Directory and add the iSpeech service or visit our iSpeech service description page. Then simply go to the document you want to listen to, click on the file menu and select “Convert to Speech.” 

From here, iSpeech gives you a few options to choose from to create your audio file, including voice selection and a few initial setup steps to use the service.  After a one-time registration with iSpeech, you can turn any of your documents on Box into audio files in just a few clicks.

Guess what? You just got more productive…

Post by Jeremy Glassenberg, Platform Manager

Box.net VP of Marketing Jen Grant joined Phil Wainewright on the ebizQ podcast to talk about what happens “When File Sharing Meets Social Computing”.

Take a listen or read a transcript of their interview here

Here’s a quick description: “In this podcast, hear how a simple Web-based file sharing service has evolved into an Enterprise 2.0 platform, and learn why adding social networking features to business collaboration can boost productivity without adding to overheads.”

Post by Sean Lindo, Community Manager

Quite frequently I receive inquiries from users wondering if we have, for example, a Firefox extension to upload to Box, a mobile application for a particular phone or an embedded version of Box in another website. Often times we have a solution, be it directing users to the FireUploader extension for Firefox, sending them to the iTunes App Store to download our iPhone app, checking out our application on LinkedIn or looking at existing services that already integrate with Box.

There are other cases, of course, where existing apps or services don’t quite fit the bill. Those cases present a perfect opportunity to integrate Box with other applications or services. That’s exactly what we had in mind when we created the OpenBox developer platform. It helps developers create custom solutions around Box and integrate existing services with Box. Since we launched our first API, we have had thousands of developer projects that have leveraged our developer platform.

It’s easy to get started with OpenBox - here are a few tips to help you out:

-First visit our documentation site to get an overview of what you can do with OpenBox.

- If you’re interested in bringing Box features into your application or service (similar to what we’ve done with our iPhone app and the FireUploader extension for Firefox), you’ll want to leverage our external API.

- If you’re interested in making a service accessible within Box.net itself (this is what allows you to edit a document in Box with Zoho or send a file from Box through Gmail), you can take a look at the setup instructions for OpenBox Actions. Many of the partners you see in the OpenBox directory only needed a few minutes to connect their services with Box this way.

- When ready, jump right in and start your own project by going to our project creation page

We look forward to seeing how you can bring Box into your own applications. And if you need any help from our developers or have an idea that you’d like to discuss with us, send us an email at developers [at] box [dot] net.

Post by Jeremy Glassenberg, Platform Manager

Hey Box users! Whether you were celebrating Easter, Passover or anything else recently, I hope your spring season is off to a good start. Speaking of which, I think the rain’s done for a while here in Palo Alto… In any event, I just wanted to give you a quick update on a couple of new features we’ve added around collaboration.

“Invisible collaborators”
The first one addresses one of the most popular requests from users, which is the ability to make collaborators you invite to a folder “invisible” to one another. For example, maybe you’re a marketing manager and you’ve invited people from outside agencies to help on a campaign - sometimes you don’t necessarily want your collaborators to know who else you’re working with.  It’s easy to set up:

- Click on the blue actions button and select ‘Properties/Rename’ from the drop-down menu on a collaboration folder you own
- A small pop-up window will appear, where you can click on ‘Advanced Options’
- Select the option, ‘All Collaborators are invisible to each other’. And that’s it!

Keep the Party Under Control
Under Advanced Options, you can also see a setting that lets you control whether or not other people you’ve shared your folder with can invite additional collaborators. By selecting the option, ‘Only new folder owners can invite collaborators,’ you - and any other folder owners - are the only ones who get to invite others to the collaboration party.

That’s it for now. Till next time, happy Boxing!

Post by Amber Nguyen, Support Supervisor

Update: For more information, you can also visit our help topic at https://www.box.net/help/227

We wish we could have one big party for everyone at our headquarters in Palo Alto, California, but, for now, we want our Facebook page to be the next best thing. So get your dancing shoes on - and join us on the lido deck.

Bring you inside the Box
Get to know more about the people behind Box and get in touch with us. We’ll post pictures, videos, show you around the headquarters and post about the events we attend - hopefully you’ll join us! And of course, we’ll post info on new Box features, blog posts and other helpful resources.

Make you an even bigger part of the process
We already give you ways to get in touch via our website, user forums in Box, the Box blog and Twitter (follow us @boxdotnet). But since so many of our users are on Facebook - some more than others, you know who you are - we wanted to give you a chance to not only show some love and support for your favorite online collaboration platform, but also the opportunity to let us know what you think and engage in conversations with fellow Box users. That’s why we’ve set up discussion topics to let you sound off on what you think we should do to improve Box, new features you’d like to see in our iPhone and Blackberry apps or even show people how you and your business use Box. You can be a shining example to others!

Show our appreciation with Box swag and other fun gifts
Everyone loves free stuff. I tip my hat to everyone who helped design the “box” logo - it looks good on just about anything. So, whether it’s a Box sticker, hoodie, t-shirt or something else, we’ll get some giveaways going to a few people that join our page and “fan” Box.net Inc. Just a little thank you for joining in on the fun and helping us make Box what it is.

Of course, we’d like to hear what you think we should do with this page too. So, the next time you sign on to Facebook, search for “Box.net Inc.” or use this link. And tell all your Box-loving friends about it too - the more the merrier.

Post by Sean Lindo, Community Manager

Ready to meet another member of your Box team? This week we sit down with Ryan Riddle, a Support Rep and recent addition to Box HQ. We work hard to make Box simple and reliable, but it’s reassuring to know you have great help when you need it. Here’s what Ryan has to say on why he joined Box, what he’s learned and a simple tip on how you can help him help you…

What were you doing before you joined Box? What brought you here?
I was working for Grace Lutheran Church in Palo Alto. There I did graphic design, tech support, and anything and everything as needed. I saw Box as a way to get my foot in the door of a web startup, something I have always wanted to be a part of. I’ve spent my life around and working with computers; from building machines in a buddy’s garage in high school, to working for the IT department in college, so moving to support was a natural progression. I hope to bring energy and passion to the support team at Box, and I want to be a vehicle between the user and the developers so that we can create the most relevant and productive product possible.

Now that you’ve had a few weeks of helping Box customers out, how do you feel? Has anything surprised you?
So far things have gone really well and I’ve really enjoyed the ability to help people get the most out of Box. One thing that has surprised me is how stable Box is. The goal of support seems less about reporting major bugs, and more about helping people get the most from the service and how to utilize it in new ways.

What interests you about this line of work? Working in Silicon Valley?
There is something really exciting about living and working in this community. The sense of entrepreneurship is amazing and  infectious. Its awesome to work with a group of people who are all pursuing the same passion and goal, with an undeniable determination to succeed.

Are there any common misconceptions people have about certain technical issues or about Box in general?
We occasionally run into the assumption that Box is just about online storage. That idea misses the organic and social nature of the service. Box isn’t just about putting your files online, it’s about making them available to share and collaborate, it’s about making your web space work for you in a way that goes way beyond static storage.

Not to quote Jerry Maguire but, do you have any tips that users can keep in mind, which can help you help them?
Just to keep in mind that email addresses are really hard to take over the phone. I know I do this myself, rattle off my email to someone, only to be confused why they are having a hard time. Spelling out an email address, even the parts that seems obvious, helps a lot.

I remember getting a heads up via Twitter that you were joining Box. You’re obviously into tech - what gadgets, apps and technologies do you use and find most interesting?
I love my iPhone, the ability to have that connection, information, and entertainment in an amazingly designed device that fits in my pocket is mind-blowing. That said I’m also an Apple geek in general.

Besides tech, what are your hobbies and passions in life?
I’m into photography, surfing, and guitar. I love spending time with my wife and our dog. As much as I am into tech I also appreciate the moments when I can turn it off and disappear for while, be it going on a hike, taking a long drive down the coast, or spending a quiet evening at home.

Post by Sean Lindo, Community Manager

You thought Chirper was a real product? Ha! Come on, a few of you did, admit it - at least for a second or two.

It’s become tradition to expect some pretty funny and crafty April Fools’ jokes from the tech world and yesterday didn’t disappoint. As many of you know, Box got in on the fun with our “quicker Twitter” called Chirper. If you haven’t tried it, go there right now! Chirper was a hit and a ton of people got a kick out of it.

Just for fun, we’ve compiled some Chirps from more than 5,000 submissions since yesterday. Enjoy!

- “Can’tuch his”, MC Hammer
- “Iot acrush oObama”, Obama Girl
- “This h to bene ofthe grett nvniever!”, Jonathan G
- “I hip,terefoe Iam”, Tom
- “AI lik this”, CADIE
- “Im nta crok”, Nixon
- “Bow-o-wowipe-y-yipee-y”, Snoop Dogg
- “eelpers, eveloprdeveloprs”, Steve Ballmer
- “I findit reaxnto hve a sere ietis”, gabo
- “Ando this dy,the elish lanuge dstro”, Mark
- “This i oevlutonay!”, pixelbud
- “TestinghChrper.This isgoigtobehue!”, DJV
- “CRAP”, Drew (hey, sometimes things are fine the way they are)

And, supposedly, from the man himself:
- “u gotme’d”, Rick Astley

Think you can do better? Get chirping at www.GetChirping.com and post it! Just ’cause it’s not April Fools’, doesn’t mean we can’t have a few more laughs…

Post by Sean Lindo, Community Manager

Here at Box.net we’ve always been focused on helping businesses and individuals increase their productivity and work more efficiently. That’s why we’re super excited to announce a new nano-blogging product called Chirper!

Chirper operates very similar to Twitter in that it allows you to send brief notes to co-workers. In true Box.net form, we’ve improved the efficiency of these notes by adding a translation process that will shorten your message into a “chirp” – essentially an optimized tweet.

Try it out, and let us know your thoughts.

Click here to GetChirping.com

Post by Aaron Dunn, Product Marketing Manager