Box.net -- one of the many startups that lets you share large files over the internet -- has introduced a new version of its iPad and iPhone application that lets you view and edit as well as share them.
Known as Box OneCloud, this new application integrates with various third-party mobile tools that handle files on mobile devices, including Quickoffice, Adobe EchoSign, Nuance PaperPort Notes, and PDF Expert. The app lets you download these tools and use them in tandem with Box's file-sharing service. Quickoffice, for instance, is a way of viewing and editing Microsoft Office files, while PDF Expert lets you view, yes, PDF files.
With Box's app, when you access a file that's been shared with you, you can open it by choosing one of the partner applications from a drop-down menu. "We think this is the first time there's a mobile cloud for the enterprise that you can implement across your business instantly," says Box CEO Aaron Levie.
To integrate with an environment like this, a partner app such as Adobe's EchoSign -- a digital signature tool -- must tap into an application program interface (API) exposed by Box. "Now the execution of documents all happens within the Box environment," says Mangesh Bhandaraar, senior product manager at Adobe Systems.
Levie has long called on a startups and developers to "disrupt" an enterprise software market ruled by giant vendors such as Microsoft and Oracle -- not to mention newer enterprise players like Google and Apple. And others are listening.
"We don't have a large enterprise sales force," Alan Masarek, QuickOffice's CEO, tells Wired. "This is a new sales channel for us, which is wonderful."
