Cloud collaboration platform Huddle has unveiled 'Connected Desktop', a series of features that let employees edit documents using desktop applications before saving them directly to the cloud.
Connected Desktop, which is available for Windows or Mac, integrates with the operating system to show up as a virtual drive. From there, you can open, edit and save files directly to Huddle's cloud, removing the need to store files locally.
According to Huddle, it lets you edit files from any desktop application. Moreover, if you get booted offline while files are being edited, you can carry on and Huddle will upload the latest version of the file as soon as connectivity is restored.
It appears alongside another new feature dubbed Huddle Drive, which installs a folder on the desktop that provides access to files stored in its cloud.
Another new feature, Huddle Viewer, allows images and videos to be immediately previewed from Huddle's browser-based interface. The company says it will provide the ability to edit videos soon.
Huddle has also added Huddle Dashboard, a central repository that shows users their business activity stream and the people they're working with.
It displays information such as relevant activity and projects, in addition to files, notifications, comments, tasks and actions that are waiting for approval.
Huddle for Outlook
Finally, a new feature called Huddle for Outlook imports attachments and related email discussions into Huddle's interface.
Email responses are displayed as comments against the uploaded file, which the company says keeps the context of the discussion by making it clear who contributed to it and when.
Anybody outside the email chain can be invited into Huddle and any information submitted is searchable and audited, it says.
Speaking to TRPro in August, Huddle CEO Alastair Mitchell said that Outlook for Huddle was built in what the company dubs "Tuesday time", a period of the week that its developers use to come up with additional features not listed on its roadmap.
He said: "The feature saves an attachment into Huddle as a document before taking the email chain and everyone on it and putting them into Huddle as a discussion, so you have the document with a discussion thread attached. It's a way of getting everyone in one place to work together, rather than going backwards and forward via email."
- Read our full interview with Huddle CEO Alastair Mitchell
