Dropbox is getting into the online document editing game with a new product called Paper.
Going after the Google Drive and Office 356 crowd, paper is a web-only document editing app that lets you collaborate with multiple users. The new program is an expansion of the Notes sharing app the cloud-storage company began quietly testing earlier this year.
In an interview with Engadget, product manager Matteus Pan explained that Paper does a better job of bringing different types of content and files together.
For example, if you were to start typing program code into a document, Paper would automatically arrange it into the proper formatting. Beyond text, users can insert images, code, tables and even to-do lists complete with "@" mentions to identify who is in charge of completing a certain task.
Likewise, URLs pasted in documents transform into small previews, and same goes for Excel spreadsheets or PowerPoint presentations, as well as Google Doc files. Paper seems to be a bit more flexible then the strict delineation between files versus documents found in Google Drive, likely due to Dropbox's years of experience with storing hordes of digital content.
As with other collaborative programs, users will be able to comment you can comment anywhere in the document using text or custom stickers. Of course, users will also be able to create their own private documents and everything is rolled into an easy to search directory.
For now, Paper is still in a beta phase and Dropbox giving out access on a per-invite basis. The company's plan is to fine tune the Paper with a focus group consisting of thousands of individual users as well as business and teams before releasing a final version, which will also come with a smartphone app.
- Earlier this week Dropbox teamed up with Adobe
