Google's Drive Could Complicate the Cloud

A new cloud-storage service from the search giant steps on the toes of startups like Dropbox and opens a new front against Apple and Microsoft.




After roughly six years of rumors, Google has finally launched its own cloud storage and syncing service, called Google Drive. The service offers five gigabytes of online file storage for free and includes software that automatically synchronizes files between Windows and Apple computers, Android phones, and Google's cloud. An iPhone app is due out in the "coming weeks," Google says. Users can pay $2.49 a month for an extra 25 gigabytes of storage, or pay more for larger blocks up to a maximum of 16 terabytes. A post on Google's official blog announced Google Drive.
Google's latest product brings it into direct competition with Dropbox, a fast-growing startup seen as the leading provider of cloud storage and file syncing. Dropbox is reportedly valued at as much as $4 billion. The five gigabytes of storage that Google now offers is more than the two gigabytes that's standard with a free Dropbox account, although Dropbox runs several promotions that make it relatively easy for a user to get five gigabytes or more for free. Dropbox offers 50 gigabytes of storage for $9.99 per month; a Google Drive user can get 100 gigabytes for half that price.
As mobile computers become more powerful, and it becomes possible for all forms of electronics to be Internet-connected, cloud-based data stores are increasingly important. Google Drive could also prove strategically important for Google. It will likely become tightly integrated into the company's Android mobile operating system, enabling users to easily sync phones, tablets, and other computers.
Apple has a similar vision. The late Steve Jobs's last product launch as Apple CEO was iCloud, which uses the Internet to synchronize data between Apple computers and mobile devices, but does not act as a data store and has been criticized for its lack of features. Perhaps preëmptively, Microsoft yesterday upgraded the capacity of its cloud storage service, SkyDrive, which integrates closely with its Windows Phone software and the upcoming Windows 8. Users of that service receive 25 gigabytes of storage for free, and can pay for more.

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