Motorola is excited to announce that we’ll be moving over to MotoCast to continue delivering innovative, cost effective solutions for accessing, sharing, and consuming your digital content. MotoCast provide seamless, instant access to all your computer's content from your smartphone, tablet or even another computer safely and securely. Stream your own music, videos, photos and files without the burden and cost of uploading to a public cloud. For more information or to download the free MotoCast application please visit http://www.mymotocast.com. 

As part of this transition to MotoCast, Motorola will be shutting down ZumoDrive. After June 1st, 2012, ZumoDrive users will no longer be able to use the service. Any content remaining in your ZumoDrive account beyond June 1st, 2012 will be securely deleted along with all account records.

Also, as of March 23rd, 2012, paid users will no longer be billed for their ZumoDrive service.  A prorated refund will be issued for all prepaid accounts.  You can direct all questions or inquiries regarding your billing account to support@zumodrive.com.  

To retrieve your data stored on ZumoDrive, we strongly recommend you take action as soon as possible. All you have to do is:

1. Get the ZumoDrive downloader tool from here: 

•  Windows downloader:
  https://d1tsx1og7dz7v4.cloudfront.net/ZumoDrive+Downloader.exe
•  Mac downloader:
  https://d1tsx1og7dz7v4.cloudfront.net/ZumoDrive+Downloader.zip 

2. Log in with your ZumoDrive account within the ZumoDrive downloader

3. Choose a location on your hard drive to save all of your ZumoDrive files

* Make sure that you have enough space on your hard drive for everything in your ZumoDrive account.

For more information, see our support article at http://support.zumodrive.com/kb/general/how-to-use-the-zumodrive-downloader-tool and see answers to frequently-asked questions at http://support.zumodrive.com/kb/general/zumodrive-shutdown-faq.

Note: Users of HP Cloud Drive, HP Web Service Store Bundle Customers, Cruz Sync and Toshiba App Place Bundle subscribers are unaffected by this shutdown and can continue to use their ZumoDrive powered service.

ZumoCast is also unaffected by this shutdown.

We thank you for all your support and use of ZumoDrive. We look forward to sharing the new MotoCast experience with you!

The ZumoDrive Team 

After meeting the folks at Motorola, we quickly realized that they share a very similar vision. They also realize that with the proliferation of mobile devices today, it's more important than ever to create a seamless way for people to share content across multiple devices. We feel that together with Motorola's brand and distribution, we are in a better position than ever to realizing our vision. We are excited to be working together with Motorola to bring all your content to all your devices.

So what does this mean for the various Zecter services?

ZumoDrive will continue operation exactly as it is today. We will also be continuing to support and improve upon the iOS, Android and WebOS platforms.

ZumoCast software distribution has been temporarily suspended while we make several enhancements. We will be working to bring back the download as quickly as we can. All existing users can continue using the service without disruption. You can sign up to be notified when the download link returns on our home page: http://www.zumocast.com.

Similarly to ZumoDrive, we will continue to support and improve ZumoCast on the iOS platform. We'll also be exploring additional platforms in the near future.
Our main goal at Zecter has always been to provide your content wherever you are, and that goal will not be changing. Motorola shares our vision, and we look forward to working with them to expand and enhance our current offerings.

Many users have sent in support tickets and commented on our forums about the various system requirements that ZumoCast needs in order to achieve smooth playback of their videos.  To answer that question you must line up three variables:  CPU/RAM, video source, and bandwidth.

Most off-the-shelf PCs out there today meet the minimum specs necessary for ZumoCast to transcode your video.  Officially we say that a 2GHz Dual-Core machine with 500MB of free RAM is what is needed to transcode videos at a good rate.  The important thing here is to make sure your computer has the processing power to convert your video as it is playing.  The faster of a computer you have, the quicker it is able to do so and stay ahead of the streaming.

One factor that plays a pretty major role in this is your video source.  More and more videos are now being broadcast and recorded in HD (High Definition).  If you are capturing video with your new phone in HD (along with many other devices such as point and shoot cameras), chances are, it is recording at 720p (resolution of 1280x720).  As a comparison, most DVD movies run at 480p (resolution of 720x480), and most Blu-Ray movies will be at 1080p (resolution of 1920x1080).  Setting aside the geek talk, it basically means the higher the number, the higher quality picture you are going to get (more pixels).  However, that does come at a price.  The higher the number also means the file size is much larger and it will take more CPU power to convert it on the fly.

The other factor to consider is your internet bandwidth.  Most internet provider plans give their users a MUCH faster download rate than upload.  In fact, chances are your download speed is around five times faster than your upload.  Remember that since ZumoCast is streaming from your computer, all that matters is how fast your upload speed is.  We recommend a minimum upload connection of 384kbps.  The quicker the connection, the larger the file we can stream to your device, which will mean the higher the quality of video you will get.  Please keep in mind that this only applies when you are streaming your video outside your LAN (via the internet).  Performance within a LAN is great!

Hopefully this clears up some of the questions regarding what is needed to stream video from your computer.  As time goes on and bandwidth and CPUs increase in speed, this process will become quicker and easier.

(download)

Click here to download:

linux-zumocast-has-arrived-zfBcykfbzoGqwdgJjFHy.zip (1005 KB)

Here are some notes about this release:

• Video streaming to iOS and web.
• Picture browsing.
• Music streaming.
• File download to iDevice.
• If you’re also using ZumoDrive for Linux, do not uninstall it.  Doing so will delete ZumoCast preferences.

Below are links for the RPM and DEB packages:

32-bit RPM:

http://www.zumodrive.com/share/8lMYNmJiOW

32-bit DEB:

http://www.zumodrive.com/share/8lN0ZDdmNT

64-bit RPM:

http://www.zumodrive.com/share/8lN1MTE2ZT

64-bit DEB:

http://www.zumodrive.com/share/8lN4YzkzYT

As with any beta, please use this at your own risk and let us know if you run into any issues.  You can email us here:  support@zumocast.com

Enjoy!  J

We've received a lot of emails asking us what the difference is between ZumoDrive and ZumoCast.  Here is a more detailed description, along with the benefits and limitations of each Zumo product:

ZumoDrive:

You upload all of your files to our servers (known as the cloud).  Our servers are secure, so unless you give out your password, no one will have access to your data except you.  It's no different than logging into your web email (like Gmail).  The plus to ZumoDrive is the fact that since the data is in the cloud, you don't need to leave your computer running.  You will just stream the data down from our servers.  Another good thing about ZumoDrive is your data is backed up in 3 different data centers in 3 different geographic locations.  So you know you data is backed up.  Along with that, since you are streaming from our servers, the connection is MUCH quicker when you go to download your data.

The limiting factor to ZumoDrive really all boils down to cost.  It costs us, and in turn you, to keep space on the server as well as the bandwidth to access it.  The other factor is video.  Since our servers are hit with so many users, we do not support transcoded video when streaming to your devices.  You can, however, download the file, then view it.  Last but not least, you need to take the time to upload your data to our servers.  Depending on how much data, your initial upload time could take quite a while.

Summary:

Pros:

• Your data is accessible anytime and anywhere you have an internet connection.
• No need to leave your home computer on.
• Your data is backed up on our servers.
• High access speed to your data via our servers.

Cons:

• Monthly cost.  You will need to pay for this service if you have a lot of files.
• No video transcoding.
• Time consuming to upload your data to our servers.

ZumoCast:

This is kind of the opposite of ZumoDrive.  You are serving the files from your own computer.  The benefit to this is basically unlimited space for a low cost.  You can keep buying more hard drives for your computer at a relatively low cost (at last check you could get a 2tb drive for $90).  You also do not have an upload process to go through.  The minute you select the files/folders you want to access, they are instantly available.  ZumoCast also has video transcoding.  So any video format is playable on your portable devices and the web interface.

The limitations to ZumoCast are that you have to leave your computer running and your internet connection to that computer needs to be available.  Lose either one, and you will not be able to access your data.  The only way around this is to use the download feature to transfer the data to your device locally.  Obviously that will take up space on the device as well as take some time to download depending on the size.  Since the files are hosted on your personal computer, you are on your own in terms of backup.  Last but not least, most personal internet connections do not have the fastest upload speeds.  So when you go to access your files, it could take some time to download them.  Keep in mind, however, that when streaming video from ZumoCast, your connection speed is taken into account and it will adjust the bitrate of the video to ensure smooth playback.

We also want to emphasize the fact that NONE of your data is kept on ZumoCast servers.  The servers are there just to tell your device where to stream data from and to also authenticate your account.  ZumoCast will choose the quickest way to get your data to you.  So if you are on a LAN, your data does not get streamed down via the internet.  It stays local.  Much faster and more secure.  If it does have to go out via the internet, rest assured that your data is encrypted during transfer.

Summary:

Pros:

• Cheap space with no monthly cost.  Just add more drives and you instantly have more space.
• No upload process.  Your files are ready to be accessed immediately.
• Video transcoding allows you to view almost any video format on your iDevice device.

Cons:

• You must leave your computer running in order to access your data.  A power outage would kick you off.
• You internet connection must stay connected in order for you to access your data.
• No backup is provided.  You must handle this yourself.
• Most internet providers do not provide high upload speeds, so downloads to your device will be slower.  However, it’s usually fast enough for most use caes.

In the end, I think it's important to have a bit of both worlds.  For the files that are important to me, which I want to ensure constant access to, I upload to ZumoDrive.  Everything else, I just ZumoCast it.  I hope this helps clear up most of the confusion.  Feel free to try both ZumoDrive and ZumoCast since they are both free.  Please let me know if you have any other questions.  Thanks!

• Music tab sorts all your music and syncs your playlists for easy access to your music.
• Download feature allows you to download your files locally to your iPad for offline access.
• Download transfer queue allows you to manage your download status.
• Downloaded tab makes it easy for you to manage all your locally downloaded content.
• Upload feature allows you to upload files from your device directly to ZumoDrive.
• Share files in your ZumoDrive with others directly from your device.
• View all your files (much easier now because of the iPad’s large screen) in the preview area and easily switch to fullscreen viewing.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or comments.  You can email us here:  support@zumodrive.com

Also, you can follow us on Twitter (@zumodrive) or Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/zumodrive) for our latest news and updates.

Thanks again!

The ZumoDrive Team

(download)

Click here to download:

ZumoDrive_for_iPad.zip (1.04 MB)

Thank you for all the support!  We have ended this t-shirt offer.  Please be on the lookout for more promotions in the future!

Whether you're showing off your awesome nerdy side, going out on the town, trying to impress the new office receptionist at your startup, or need an extra rag to dry off your new Prius, the ZumoCast t-shirt is an excellent and stylish choice!  We're going to be shipping out these t-shirts for free while supplies last!  All we ask of you is to do is go to the Apple AppStore, download our app and submit an honest rating with a review.

The boring details:

Send us an email here:  contest@zumocast.com

Please include the following info:

-  Your username used to post the comment on the AppStore.

-  Which device you downloaded ZumoCast for (iPhone or iPad).

-  Your shirt size.

-  Mailing address.

-  Your email.

Submissions missing any one of these fields will not be honored.  This is a while supplies last event, so first come, first served!  Thanks again for all your support!