Dubai: Computer users can now download Google's new cloud storage service "Google Drive" which was launched globally last week.
It is a service to store files online and share them among various computing devices.
When downloaded on to your computer, a folder is created on your computer that looks just like a directory on your hard disk that you can drag your files in to. Anything stored in that folder is kept on your hard disk and also copied to your account in the cloud.
You can work on a file on one computer, close it, and then open it on a second computer, and what you'll see is the version you closed on the first one. You can also move entire folders to your Google Drive.
Google gives users 5GB of free space, with options to pay $2.49 (Dh9.14) per month for 25GB, $4.99 per month for 100GB and $50 per month for a full terabyte. Upgraded accounts will also get 25GB of Gmail storage.
Google Drive looks a lot like Dropbox, where you install software on a device running Windows, Mac OS X, Android and iOS app is expected to be introduced soon.
There are plenty of other service providers too — for example, Box, SugarSync, Mozy's Stash, Apple's iCloud, Adobe's upcoming Creative cloud, Yandex, and SkyDrive, which just added for-fee storage tiers and reduced its free space to 7GB for new customers from 25GB, but Dropbox's free tier ends at 2GB.
SkyDrive offers the most free storage capacity at 7GB.
Google Drive undercuts all of its competitors on monthly pricing, but Microsoft's Skydrive — which doesn't offer monthly pricing — is cheaper on an annual basis.
The offerings from Google and Microsoft have their downside — neither one supports the other's mobile platform.
The Google Drive Android app can access your photos, documents, videos and other files stored on your Google Drive and can upload files to Google Drive directly from your Android device.
According to Google's terms and conditions, users retain full ownership of any intellectual property rights.
