Synology launches new Drive, Office, Moments packages

Network storage specialist Synology has announced the launch of three new software packages for its Linux-based Disk Storage Manager (DSM) distribution: Drive, Office, and Moments.

Released as free upgrades for all supported Synology NAS units, the company's latest releases are designed to replace existing software with what the company is positioning as impressive new features. Synology Drive, to start, is described as 'the complete revamp of Synology's file syncing Cloud Station Suite,' with simplified data management, easier synchronisation of multiple devices, improved collaboration through team folders, and new desktop clients for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Synology Office, meanwhile, is the company's latest crack at a browser-based collaborative productivity suite. On top of improved word processing and spreadsheet functionality built on previous releases, the latest version brings slideshow support for the first time - offering a local alternative to cloud-based platforms like Microsoft Office 365 and Google Drive.

It's the new Moments package that Synology is pushing the hardest, though. An entirely new release, Moments is designed to replace the existing media functionality with new automated photo and video backup from Android and iOS mobile devices and automatic analysis through what the company is describing as a 'new deep learning algorithm'. This algorithm, Synology claims, is smart enough to organise all images according to topic and content including facial structure analysis, subject tracking, and location tracking.

The deep-learning technology in Moments also extends to the search system, Synology has claimed, and will attempt to automatically tag images so searches for everything from 'mountains' to 'sushi' will bring up relevant images. All processing is performed on the NAS itself, the company explains, with no data leaving the local network.

More details on Drive, Office, and Moments are available from the official product pages.