I rely on Dropbox for synchronizing files between machines and maintaining a backup of important files. The Dropbox for iPad app allows me to access my files on the iPad, but until recently it was difficult to get a file into Dropbox from an iPad app that doesn't explicitly support Dropbox.

Taking advantage of the Dropbox API, Habilis has created a simple service that lets you email files to a personalized address and have them appear in your Dropbox. (Dropbox competitor SugarSync also recently instituted this feature, but I prefer Dropbox and it's used by most of my colleagues for sharing files.)

1. Go to the Habilis site and click the Connect to Dropbox link.
2. At the Dropbox site, log in if you're not already connected and confirm that you want Habilis to use your account.
3. Return to the Habilis site, where you'll see a custom email address for you to use.



4. Add the address to Address Book and then sync the iPad or wait for MobileMe to sync wirelessly if you've enabled that feature.

To test the service, do the following:

1. Open an app on the iPad, such as Pages, and create a new document.
2. Return to the My Documents screen, make the document frontmost, and tap the Share menu.
3. Tap the Send via Mail button.
4. Choose a file format, such as Pages or Word (this step is specific to the Pages app).
5. In the outgoing message that's created, enter the Habilis email address and tap the Send button.

Within a few minutes (depending on your network connection and the size of the file), the file appears in a new folder called From Habilis within your Dropbox folder.

(Thanks to Chuq Von Rospach and Ian Betteridge for alerting me to this great service.)