Google Drive Launches: 5GB-1TB Storage Options, iOS App Coming Soon

Update 1: Google Drive is now live. Check it out here https://drive.google.com

Here’s a video overview of Google Drive, as announced on Google’s blog:

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.

Storage options:

  • 5GB free
  • 25GB for $2.49/month
  • 100GB for $4.99/month
  • 1TB for $49.99/month
  • Paid accounts will upgrade your Gmail storage to 25GB

==

It was reported last week Google planned to enter the online storage market to compete with the likes of Dropbox via their upcoming offering, Google Drive. Now, further details of the service (set to launch today) have been leaked on Google’s French blog. Here are some further details we can expect to hear, if the leak is indeed accurate:

  • 5GB of free storage space (we heard this last week)
  • Addition storage will be available, with prices starting at $4/month for 20GB
  • Google Drive to be integrated into Google Docs
  • Web-based file viewer to be able to view 30 files types
  • PC, Mac and Android apps launching today; iOS app arriving in coming weeks
  • Google’s promise will be 99.9% uptime
  • Focus on search including support for OCR and image recognition

The full details of the post were copied by Google Plus user François Bacconnet before they were taken down. You can read the translated post here.

To further add to the leaked details, last night Reuters reported the service will offer paid storage options up to 100GB and also focus on ‘sophisticated image search technology’ (we’ve seen this at work via the Google iOS app):

Google Drive will work with sophisticated image search technology to let consumers sift through a wide variety of document types, which could include the likes of Adobe PDF files and photographs, the source said.

Anyone excited for Google Drive?

[via TechCrunch]

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