Dropbox Raises the Stakes on iCloud and Google Drive

Dropbox is releasing new APIs for iOS and Android that simplify integrating the cloud service into apps. Although it technically doesn't add any new file sync features that weren't already available to developers, the new API means that including Dropbox in apps will be much easier. Simpler integration could drive adoption and help make what has already been a popular, common cloud storage solution the de-facto standard — especially for cross-platform apps.

Dropbox is in a slow and steady process of redefining itself as more than simply a cloud file system — a space that is rapidly filling up with competitors like Box, Sugarsync, Microsoft's SkyDrive, Google Drive, and Apple's iCloud. Dropbox's primary advantages right now is its 100 millon-strong user base as well as a head start when it comes to working across multiple platforms. The company is hoping that the new tools will press those advantages and help it in its quest to move beyond the increasingly commodified market of cloud storage and into a new space of providing content services instead of basic file sync, backup, and storage.