It’s certainly one of Silicon Valley’s greatest pink elephants: Why doesn’t Google give a cloud storage plan to rival Dropbox, Box.net, or Microsoft’s SkyDrive? Google gets the most internet-connected servers on the globe, the biggest combined storage associated with a web company, and already offers photo storage (Picasa), document storage (Docs), music storage (Music), but for some reason it’s got never offered a unified Google Drive. As outlined by people informed about the matter, however, our wait is nearly over: Google’s Harddrive On the horizon is originating soon, possibly “within weeks.” (paywalled)

Feature-wise, it appears like Google Drive will be comparable to Dropbox, with free basic storage (5GB?) and extra space for a yearly fee. Presumably, Google Drive will highlight a directory look at all the files you’ve stored on Google’s servers (pictured right), from photos to music to email attachments – kind of like a revamped and omnipresent Google Docs. It’s possible that Google’s revised online privacy policy, which comes into effect at the outset of March, makes this sort of unification possible. This is a good addition to Google’s web services, but hardly a killer feature – and soon you look at the pricing for further space.

You do not keep in mind this, but Google already offers additional space for storage for Docs, Gmail, and Picasa at very huge discounts, starting at $5 annually for 20GB, or $20 each year for 80GB. Compared, Dropbox is $9.99 per month for 50GB, SugarSync is $4.99 per month for 30GB, and Box.net is $9.99 per month for just 25GB. To put it briefly, Yahoo is 10 times less than your competitors. There’s no confirmation that Google Drive use exactly the same costs, however in all likelihood it’ll.

Being less than the competition is simply part of the equation, though. To completely succeed, Google would require mobile and desktop apps to rival Dropbox or SugarSync – along with Android rolling around in its pocket, this is when Google Drive could really shine. Mainly because it stands, Google really doesn’t have anything that’s much like the autonomous simplicity of iCloud – however with Google Drive, that can all change. We have already seen an indication of this with Google+ for Android, which lets you automatically upload photos – only to Google+. If Google Drive can bring exactly the same functionality to mail, docs, music, and so on, then Google could be onto a success. It’s also worth noting that Google Drive also might be integrated into Chrome – and Chrome OS, needless to say.

At this point, most tech sites would usually sign with some pandering desire for Google’s awesome tech-savviness. Instead, we’re feeling obliged to say Microsoft’s SkyDrive, poor little No Geek Cred SkyDrive. Microsoft’s cloud storage service provides you with 25GB at no cost! It works really well with Windows 7 and Windows Phone 7 – and are avalable Windows 8 and WP8 (and Xbox 720?) it’ll be baked strait into the OS, like iOS’s iCloud but better. The internet interface is very useful, too, and ties in nicely with Office Web Apps (pictured right), which are generally much better than Google Docs.

Ultimately, then, Google Drive should be awesome to stick out of the crowd – and that’s probably why Google has waited so very long to create out an email finder service it really should’ve launched in years past, before Dropbox or SkyDrive. It’s slightly odd, really: Using its arsenal of web services, Android, and Chrome OS, Google ought to be leading the cloud storage pack; instead, we’re waiting to see if Google Drive is comparable to little ol’ Dropbox.

Source : extremetech

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