This time it is the number one site on the Internet Facebook, that just bought the cloud based file sharing service Drop.io, or more precisely “most of drop.io’s technology and assets”. In addition, Drop.io’s Sam Lessin will be moving to Facebook. It is not clear what happens to the rest of the drop.io team, the official blog post does not mention anything related to that.

The takeover has consequences, the most noticeable that free users are not able to upload data to drop.io servers anymore. Only downloads are available for these users. Paid users do not have this restriction yet as they can continue to use the service normally. On December 15 however it is time to say goodbye for everyone, as paid accounts will be discontinued as well.

Paid users with important files on drop.io servers need to download these files to their computer until December 15, as drop.io plans to delete the data after that day.

No user data or content will be transferred to Facebook. Other drop.io services, like “Presslift, our Yahoo! Mail Application, and our APIs will stay online for a longer period before the company winds down”.

The aquisition of drop.io gives Facebook access to file hosting and sharing technologies. It is likely that they plan to use the technology to improve or expand Facebook’s offering in this space.

Maybe, and that is speculation on my part, free storage space for every Facebook user, or better handling of media contents shared on Facebook.

With another file hosting service gone, what’s your favorite at this point in time? Let me know in the comments.

Yahoo Mail today announced the integration of the Drop.io service as an application into Yahoo Mail. Drop.io is a file hosting service on the Internet that can be used to upload and share files on the Internet.

The Yahoo Mail solution adds a one-click solution to upload attachments with a size of up to 100 Megabytes. Users who receive emails with attachments that have been uploaded this way will see a link that is pointing to the uploaded files. Recipients have then options to view online or download the attachments to their computer system.

Yahoo Mail users who do not see Applications in the left sidebar need to visit the Yahoo Mail Applications page to enable them. The Attach Large Files is then available from the applications menu. The feature makes it a bit easier and more comfortable for users to share larger files although this method can be easily replicated manually by users who use different online email services like Gmail.

Drop.io started off as just another file-hosting site. To stand out from the pack though, the site now allows you to both send and receive faxes. The modus operandi is simple: Upload the file you want to fax to the drop.io service. Files must be in ‘doc’ or ‘pdf’ format, not more than 20 pages long and less in 100 MB in size.

Once your file is uploaded, just click on the ‘Send’ button. You will then be directed to a page with a drop-down menu where you can choose how you want your file to be sent. You can choose between fax, email, and MMS for mobiles. In the case of the fax, enter the fax number and click ‘send’. Your document is faxed to its recipient.

I quite like this service though I doubt I need to use it that often. For one thing, I don’t need to go running around looking for a fax machine. Another perk, it’s free! I’ve sent faxes before and paid for each page, which can work out quite expensive. The major drawback presently is you can only send faxes to US numbers. Still, I’m optimistic that this will change in the future.

What do you think of the drop.io fax service? Would you be willing to use it? What kind of security concerns would you have? Let me know in the comments.