Google Drive: Cloud storage offered by Google — 5 GB free, 25 GB $2.49/month, 100 GB $4.99/month

Rumors about a Dropbox-like cloud storage service by Google, have been floating around for a while. Well rumors no longer. Google has released Google Drive, a cloud storage service that provides users with the abilty to “create, share, collaborate, and keep all of your stuff.”

Think of Google Drive as Dropbox with Google Docs. With your Google Drive account you can store any type of file you desire (10 GB file size limit) and download files from your account whenever you want; on top of that, Google Drive has Google Docs built-in (Google Docs has been merged into Google Drive), so you can create and edit documents with the added bonus of OCR technology. Hear and see it from the mouth of the beast itself:

With Google Drive, you can:

  • Create and collaborate. Google Docs is built right into Google Drive, so you can work with others in real time on documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Once you choose to share content with others, you can add and reply to comments on anything (PDF, image, video file, etc.) and receive notifications when other people comment on shared items.
  • Store everything safely and access it anywhere (especially while on the go). All your stuff is just… there. You can access your stuff from anywhere—on the web, in your home, at the office, while running errands and from all of your devices. You can install Drive on your Mac or PC and can download the Drive app to your Android phone or tablet. We’re also working hard on a Drive app for your iOS devices. And regardless of platform, blind users can access Drive with a screen reader.
  • Search everything. Search by keyword and filter by file type, owner and more. Drive can even recognize text in scanned documents using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. Let’s say you upload a scanned image of an old newspaper clipping. You can search for a word from the text of the actual article. We also use image recognition so that if you drag and drop photos from your Grand Canyon trip into Drive, you can later search for [grand canyon] and photos of its gorges should pop up. This technology is still in its early stages, and we expect it to get better over time.

The best part about Google Drive is it is accessible via the web and has clients for Windows, Mac, and Android. Apps for iOS (iPhone/iPad) are coming soon.

Hit up the links below to learn more about Google Drive:

Official Google Drive blog post

Official Google Drive page

So, do you think Google Drive will fill that cloud storage hole in your life? Sound-off in the comments below.

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