Today we’re proud to announce some great news — DivShare has been nominated for this year’s Webware 100 by the editors at CNET’s Webware.com. To make it from nominee to winner, we need your help. Voting is now live, and you’ll get three votes in each category — ours is “Utility & Security.” So, show your support with a vote and help us make it big. Thanks for being a part of DivShare!

• Vote for us in the Webware 100

This week we’ll be rolling out a lot of new upgrades to our user interface and tech support system. For starters, we’ve redesigned the “share this file” dialog that you see on your dashboard and download pages. The sharing options for each file will now pop up in a sleek new dialog box, and you’ll easily be able to copy the appropriate code snippet for use on your own site. Here’s an example:

Try it out for yourself on any download page and on your dash. The second upgrade we’re announcing today is a new Frequently Asked Questions page, which now covers much more about Flash players, storage and bandwidth tracking and a number of other general questions. Tomorrow we’ll also be launching our new support ticket system, which will further improve customer support for users who run into site errors. And we’ve got plenty more on the agenda this week, including more dashboard upgrades and a new release of our popular Wordpress plugin. Enjoy!

We’ve rolled out a new feature today that makes downloads up to 333% faster for our premium members. From here on out, premium files can be downloaded at speeds up to 1000 KB/s, which will make for much faster video streaming and a better overall DivShare experience. For free members, the max download speed will stay at our existing level of 300 KB/s.

Your speeds will vary based on your Internet connection, but the upgrades should provide much faster access to premium files all around. If you’re not already a premium member, upgrade today and get your first 14 days free. Enjoy!

Today we have an announcement that will affect many of our users in China and Southeast Asia, as well as users whose files receive traffic from this part of the world. As of Tuesday, February 12, files hosted in free DivShare accounts will no longer be accessible to visitors in this region. Premium users will not be affected the by this change, and current users in this region will always be able to access their own files. No files will be deleted.

The affected countries are: China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Mongolia.

Downloaders: If you are in these countries, you will be able to download any file from any uploader if you have a premium account.

Existing Free Members: Starting Feb. 12, files in free accounts will not be accessible from the above countries unless the downloader has a premium account. If you live in one of these countries and are already a member, you will still have access to the files in your free account. All visitors from other countries will still have access to your files. If you would like to continue to serve downloads to China and Southeast Asia, an upgrade will allow you to do so.

Upgrading: We have created a new premium account, DivShare Basic, for members in the above countries. The Basic plan includes 5 GB of storage and 50 GB of downloads per month for just $3.95 per month. Current free members in China and Southeast Asia will be able to switch to Basic premium plans and continue to serve files to visitors anywhere in the world. New members from this region will only have the option to sign up for Basic or one of the other premium plans.

Why the change? Our free accounts are supported by advertising, and unfortunately the online advertising market in China and Southeast Asia is much weaker than in other parts of the world. We’re still proud to offer our storage and sharing services to users in this region, but we ask that they join us as premium rather than ad-supported members.

If you have any questions or are interested in a custom premium account, let us know. Thanks for being a part of DivShare!