Cubby out of beta, offers free 5GB accounts to all

Remember Cubby? It's the new file-syncing and -sharing service from LogMeIn (makers of my longtime favorite remote-access tool).

Cubby's been running a closed, invitation-only beta for some time, but I've got good news: now it's an open, no-invitation-required beta. That means anyone can sign up for a free Cubby account, which includes, among other things, 5GB of cloud storage.

But hold on a sec -- this isn't just another Dropbox wanna-be. For starters, the latter gives you only 2GB of free storage; Cubby gives you 5GB. And for each friend you refer who signs up, you get an additional 1GB, up to a maximum of 25GB.

Cubby also supports "sync in place," meaning you can sync any files and folders you want, not just those you drop into a sync bucket. That's one of my favorite things about SugarSync, and I'm glad to see it here as well.

Now for the best news of all: Cubby offers DirectSync, which works like the old Microsoft Live Mesh in syncing unlimited files and folders between your PCs. You don't have to stay within that 5GB cloud cap; DirectSync doesn't count against that limit. (Cloud storage is all well and good, but I love being able to sync an unlimited amount of stuff between my PCs. That's great not only for sharing, but also for backup.)

Of course, all the other cloud-storage goodies are there as well: public and private file sharing, unlimited versioning, a desktop app for sync management, and mobile apps for Android and iOS.

To get started, just download the Cubby desktop client and start creating cubbies. If you already have a Join.me or LogMeIn account, you can sign in using those credentials, otherwise you'll need to register for a Cubby account.

The software looks nice and couldn't be much easier to use; same goes for the Web interface. In a nutshell, if you're looking for an easy way to sync data between your PCs and a free chunk of cloud storage to go with it, Cubby is definitely worth a try.