UPDATED 22:21 EDT / SEPTEMBER 25 2019

CLOUD

New Dropbox app comes with new collaborative features to battle Google and Slack

Dropbox Inc. today launched a new desktop app complete with a new look in an attempt to expand its appeal to a broader audience.

The new app includes Dropbox Spaces, a smart workplace that is not cloud storage alone. It comes with new collaborative working features that allow for shared team work spaces that connect not only files but tasks and meetings as well.

If the pitch sounds familiar it should, since Dropbox is veering into the territory of services such as Slack and some of Google LLC’s cloud products.

Pitched as “the shared folder, reimagined,” Dropbox claims that Dropbox Spaces “transforms your folders into collaborative workspaces that bring your team’s content to life.” Noting that Spaces uses machine intelligence, Dropbox adds that Spaces will “help you stay focused on your most important work, and gives you new ways to stay in sync with your team.”

Under the hood, Dropbox has made some decent changes that its users will probably like. Image search has been improved with a feature that Google Photos has long had: the ability to search images based on what is in them. “Looking for a file with some clothing, but you can’t remember the file name? No problem—just search ‘clothing,’ and find your image instantly,” Dropbox said.

File previews have been improved with added support for AutoCAD files along with added “Team” features. Along with support for team messaging, Spaces includes calendar integration, overview notifications and comment support.

Despite the fact the new features are reminiscent of products long offered by Slack Inc., Google and Microsoft Corp., Dropbox Chief Executive Officer Drew Houston told Marketwatch that “we don’t see anyone doing what we’re trying to do.” He added that he sees Dropbox as “uniquely positioned to help large organizations coordinate and communicate content, particularly in the fields of media,  manufacturing and  construction.”

Dropbox went public in March 2018, debuting on the Nasdaq at $29 per share. While it peaked at $39.60 in June 2018, the company’s share price has slowly declined, trading at $19.75 as of the close of trading Wednesday.

An undisputed early mover in cloud storage, Dropbox’s biggest ask is trying to find customers in a market where companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon.com Inc. offer cloud storage for extremely low costs and in some scenarios for free.

Image: Dropbox

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