But there’s a story to when we got started with the app. When we first started analyzing whether to take on the challenge of building Fiabee’s first iPhone app internally or to outsource it to a qualified team, we came to the conclusion that internal development was key in order to reflect exactly what we were looking to build: an application that would quickly and securely manage large volumes of information in small devices (in this case, the iPhone).

In mid-January we already had a beta version, preparing for launch in mid-March. The only missing piece was to make sure to optimize managing the large quantity of data, within the restrictions and limitations of a 3G iPhone.

However, after that came the most difficult part: real-time synchronization of all data between servers and the iPhone. If you’re dealing with 100, 200 or even 500 files, as do other solutions running on smartphones, it’s quite simple.  But if you’re actually set out to manage thousands or hundred thousands of files in thousands of folders, the solution is actually very complex. So we set out to solve the problem, having our development team work on a new server, running performance tests and finalizing the changes to make it work.

We’ve finally reached it, an iPhone app that we’re happy about that allows for seamless management of thousands of files.  Our users have high expectations and we’re determined to meet them. We wanted to give you yet another reason to rely on Fiabee.

That said, our iPhone app is now available for your iPhone in the App Store. Give it a whirl.

To make that happen, we’ve changed two things:

Now, not only can you send your invitations via email, but you can also invite your contacts through Twitter, Facebook and MySpace by generating a personalized link in your client area. So you can also publish the link in your blog, on any web, send it to twitter or your Facebook friends, as well as email it. You have a number of ways to get your extra free GB backup space.

The rules for getting your free storage are quite simple and lineal, directly proportional to the number of friends you get to use Fiabee. So every new friend you bring, from the first one to the last one, we’ll give you 250MB of free space for your backup. Simple and easy to understand.

All those who have already earned free space, we’ve rounded up your storage space, so there are no hard feelings. The space is yours.

So don’t wait, and get those invites out.

Picking it up, the first impression is that it weighs a bit more than we were expecting, although totally manageable. Screen resolution is spectacular, though we still can’t come to terms with how quickly it gets covered with oily fingerprints.

Jose has just one question: Will our iPhone app (launching VERY shortly) work on the iPad or will we have to make adjustments to adapt? Within 10 minutes he’s already setting up the development environment that will be compatible (or not) with the iPad…After just 30 minutes, the answer is that our iPhone app works just fine on the iPad, you can access data, photos and videos from our iPhone app also on the iPad!

Apple has an iPhone simulator for the iPad which lets you launch applications on the iPad as if you were running them on the mobile, although losing some resolution on the graphics and buttons. Another words, it’s plug&play, but you do lose some of the features characteristic of the iPad.

The photos are high quality-the iPad really lets you take advantage of its high definition screen, so we’re already playing around to look through the photos and videos stored on our Fiabee account.

We’re going dive into developing Fiabee for the iPad as well, as soon as we can squeeze it into our pipeline. For now however, just around the corner, were about to launch our brand new and shiny iPhone app.

On May 18th, just two days ago, Planets reached an important milestone by placing a “time capsule” in a Data Center located in Switzerland to draw attention to the importance of preserving digital information over the long term. The capsule contents were 5 different, most popular storage formats and the technology to read them. To make this a real time capsule, files were stored in media ranging from punch-cards (remember those?) to paper, microfilm, floppy disc, audio tape, CD, DVD, USB and Blu Ray.

The Data Center is called Swiss Data Fort Knox and is in the town of Saanen, Switzerland: it is carved into a mountain of the Alps to ensure the physical security in a project that originally involved the Swiss army.

Still physical security is only a part of the problem. The project aims to emphasize the need to preserve the methods of access to digital information and preserve it with the readers needed to ensure future accessibility.

In case anyone still thought that the DVDs do not degrade over time.

Today we’re pleased to let you know that Marina Zaliznyak has joined the Fiabee team as our new International Business Development Manager. It’s an exciting step for us. While we grow our product offering and features (we have a lot in store for you so keep tuned), we also dive into local and international expansion.

Born in the Ukraine, raised in the US and professionally cultured in Spain, Marina has “international” in her veins. She comes from a multifaceted background, with a constant thread in digital products and services. She’s founded her own online marketing agency, held product development positions, and ran the sales operations in Spain a leading European SEO-SEM company.

With a passion for startups, Marina is a contributing writer for Techcrunch Europe.  She brings extensive business development experience, a strong international network and a drive to innovate.

With an already strong technological team here in Fiabee, we are setting out to do great things, with you in mind.  So take this as an open invitation to reach out to Marina and to Fiabee. We’re making your product.

To that end we are thrilled to announce the release of the latest version of Fiabee.

To bring in the New Year, we are proud to report the latest version of Fiabee is faster than ever.
What does this mean for you? You can backup a lot more of your files, folders and photos in even less time.  Let the upload speeds speak for themselves and backup your data with Fiabee today.

We have also added some generous new offers: For a limited time only, new users will receive 2 GB of backup space totally free of charge, forever. And up to 5 GB of free space forever if you invite your friends to install a free trial.

There is plenty more to come with a whole host of fun and useful new Fiabee features coming very soon, so watch this space.

In the meantime, make the most of our freemium account limited-time offers and try Fiabee now!

All the information at:

http://uk.techcrunch.com/2009/09/15/come-to-techcrunch-london-24-sept-speakers-pitches-party/

If you’re in London come to the event and join us for a beer.

Fiabee’s team

However, not only manufacturing defects are to blame. Fiabee was created following the accidental ‘death’ of a hard drive: an external hard drive with massive storage capacity, of the kind so often used to save photos, home videos and other documents. While being taken from the computer to the television it was dropped, and smashed onto the floor. The owner had to resign himself to not only having lost the appliance, but also everything stored on it.

The owner in question was Enrique Borras, one of the members of the team which developed Fiabee. That accident convinced him of the need to save irreplaceable information somewhere really secure. He still uses external hard drives, but only for unimportant documents which can easily be replaced. He won’t ever again use them for anything of any value.

Fiabee’s servers in Germany are permanently controlled and protected against all kinds of incidents, such as fire, hackers or even faults in the connection to the Internet. With Fiabee, a manufacturing defect in the computer or a simple domestic accident will no longer present a threat to your files.

As long as your belongings can be valued it is possible to replace them. The problems begin when the value of an object is literally incalculable. Your grandmother’s dinner service, the video of your wedding, photos of births, birthdays and Christmases - these things are irreplaceable.

If you lose your laptop, or the hard disk is damaged, you can always buy a new one. They are not expected to last forever - in fact, the average life of a computer is about four years. But what about everything stored on your computer?  How long do you want to keep that information?  Probably forever.

For all the criticism of Christmas spending, and despite the fact that December is the month of the year when we spend most money, paradoxically, it is at this time of year that money matters least to us. What matters is that Uncle John takes such delight in the Christmas pudding, and that the children’s faces light up as they open their presents, so we are not watching the pennies.

We have chosen Christmas to present Fiabee, because there is nothing more valuable than memories and there is no better time of year to protect them.

Fiabee makes automatic back-up copies and guarantees that the photos, videos and other important files in your computer are always safe. It does a silent, discreet but extremely important job. We are very proud to have created Fiabee: it is not only a product, but a personal memory protector. We are currently putting the finishing touches to it for the launch in April 2009.

Give Fiabee this festive season. Give someone an unforgettable Christmas and 2009.