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Manage your 'home cloud' with the official QNAP remote storage app for Windows Phone

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QNAP makes a series of Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices for professional and home usage. All of that sounds bizarre to myself, because frankly I don’t follow home-networking news. NAS devices though are becoming increasingly popular as homes – to break out a buzzword – become more ‘connected’ in 2014.

For those still confused, it’s a home cloud server akin to having your own local SkyDrive account. NAS devices allow you to configure them with multiple terabytes of storage, and they then connect to the ‘net. Tablets, PCs, laptops and phones can then join to pull down (or upload) videos, music, photos, etc.

This week, QNAP (www.qnap.com) released an official app for Windows Phone called Qfile. It’s still technically in beta, though if you have a QNAP NAS running firmware V3.8.0 or later, you should be good to go. What does Qfile bring? It comes with the following features on board:

Qfile 1.0 (1.0.1.114)

  • Access files on the Turbo NAS anytime, anywhere.
  • Upload your photos and documents directly from mobile devices to the Turbo NAS.
  • Easy management:  Move, copy, rename or delete files on the Turbo NAS, all via your mobile device. No computer required.
  • Offline file reading:  Qfile provides a simple way for downloading files from the Turbo NAS to mobile devices for offline reading.

Once again, the analogy to your own personal SkyDrive account should be obvious. With Qfile, you can use your Windows Phone to manage your own files and folders on your home NAS directly, backing up photos, videos or even playing music.

I actually have a QNAP NAS HS-210 (see lede photo), though it’s not yet setup as I’m waiting to move first (I picked it up at CES, evidently). But the idea now that Windows Phone has an official app has my interest piqued. While I really enjoy SkyDrive, there’s something enticing about running your own cloud service that you can control and manage for friends and family.

Unfortunately, there’s no Windows 8 RT app yet, but seeing as QNAP is embracing Windows Phone, we imagine it can’t be too far behind.

If you have a QNAP NAS, you can grab Qfile here in the Store. Windows Phone 8 only.

Anyone already on board with their own NAS? Shout out below how you use it and why you like it.

Via: WMPU

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Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and wearable tech. He has reviewed laptops for over 10 years and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, Arm64 processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, performed polysomnographs in NYC, and was a motion-picture operator for 17 years.