We’ve been bringing you news on Google Drive, Google’s possible rival to Dropbox, and this new cloud service is attracting a huge amount of attention right now. A few days ago we brought you news that Google Drive was being rumored to release at some point this week and further developments are suggesting that in fact the new service could launch as early as today!
Google Drive will allow users 5GB of free storage when it launches, with options to purchase more and can be used in desktop folders for Windows and Mac as well as Android and iOS devices. Several days ago a video spot of what appeared to be Google Drive on a developers Galaxy Nexus smartphone at an Android Developers Hangout led us to hope that a launch was indeed imminent and hopefully that will be proven correct.
A Reuters report today on Yahoo reveals that the service is being prepared to roll out and a source has stated that Google Drive may in fact be announced today in both free and also premium-for-pay versions. As yet it’s unknown how much the world’s number one search engine will charge for the premium version of Drive and as usual Google is keeping quiet for now with a spokeswoman simply saying that the company “does not comment on rumor or speculation.”
Google is certainly making inroads on bringing yet more services to its massive customer base and Google Drive is another example of how the company is not slowing down in its endeavors. Google Drive’s cloud storage will be usable for storing photos, documents and other content online with the ability to access that content from any device connected to the Web. The maximum amount of storage will be 100GB on payment of a monthly fee and it will also feature search facilities. The same source tells how image search technology might be used so that content such as PDF files and photos can also be searched.
A massive 96% of Google’s revenue arises from advertising such as the ads that Google places next to search results and 2011 revenue for the company amounted to $38 billion so the importance of its ads is crucial to the company. We’ll be waiting for further news on Google Drive becoming available and will let readers know as soon as we hear.
What are your thoughts on Google Drive? Would you use this new cloud service from Google and do you think it will be a credible alternative to Dropbox, Box and Evernote for example? Let us have your comments on this.