More on the Art of quanp

Regular readers know Doc's a fan of cloud computing and in particular a fun and useful new application/service from Ricoh called quanp (kwan-puh).

High level, quanp does three things: 1. It collects everything in one spot 2. It allows you to dig into your digital life memories with an innovative 3D view interface 3. It allows you to dress up your digital life memories with backgrounds, tags, and comments

quanp is actually a few things: it's a Windows client software program; it's a browser-based application; and it's a series of "widgets" that allow you to do amazing things on any computer. And all of it adds up to a new and somewhat revolutionary way to store, organize, view, and share your digital images, videos, PDFs, and even Microsoft Office documents.

Right now, quanp is still in beta testing in the US (it's already a big hit in Japan), so you'll have to sign up for an account by going here.  If you are a Windows user, then download the application quanp.on. This will allow you to drag-and-drop your digital files into a customizable interface that displays things in a totally cool three-dimensional way.  You can also easily tag things as they go into quanp, or later add tags so it's easy to search for files based on keywords.

And if you use a Mac (or you're at someone else's Windows machine), you can go to quanp.net and do many of the same things right through your browser.

Your digital files are then stored at Ricoh's site and you (and the friends and family members you designate) can view them from any computer in a variety of ways. And get this: you can even open Microsoft Office documents without having the application running on your computer. It's like a giant closet in the sky that's well organized and easy for everyone to get to.

Of course, quanp serves as a backup for your digital lifestyle, but it's much more than that. You'll find yourself using quanp to organize your files and to display the search results when you're looking for something.

And you can even share really large files (up to 500MB) using quanp (and send them directly to anyone even if they aren't a quanp user).

But wait, there's more!

Ricoh didn't stop at just a great application and browser-based interface, they designed a couple of cool Adobe Air desktop widgets that add even more functionality. I'll talk about them in a future entry, so stay tuned. And did I mention there's a cool iPhone app for quanp as well?  If you can't tell already, Doc is pretty excited about this whole new way of thinking about your digital being.