Google Drive

[Kurtis]

If it happened any other way, it just wouldn't be as satisfying, now would it? After years of leaks, murmurs, hubbub and other familiar synonyms, Google's mythical cloud storage platform is now official... sort of. As Lady Fate would have it, the company apparently outed a memo of the features on its French blog earlier today, but before it could yank the 'pull' switch, an eagle-eyed reader managed to grab the text and run it through -- surprise, surprise -- Google Translate. What's left is an official-as-you'll-get-right-now transcript of Google Drive's features, but contrary to the hype, it all feels way more enterprise-centric than consumers may have wanted. For starters, there's no real mention of music (we guess Google Music is on its own, there), and there's just 5GB of free storage for "documents, videos, photos, Google Docs, PDFs, etc." According to the brief, it's designed to let users "live, work and play in the cloud," with direct integration with Docs and Google+.

We're also told that Drive can be installed on one's Mac, PC or Android phone / tablet, while an iOS version will be "available in the coming weeks." Of note, Google's making this accessible to visually impaired consumers with the use of a screen reader. As for features? Naturally, Google's flexing its search muscles in as many ways as possible; if you scan in a newspaper clipping, a simple Search All within Drive will allow results to appear directly from said clipping. If you upload a shot of the Eiffel Tower, it'll show up whenever you search for the aforesaid icon. Moreover, Drive will allow folks to open over 30 types of documents directly from a web browser, including HD video, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and more -- "even without the software installed on your computer." For those concerned about access, the new platform will have the same infrastructure as any other Google Apps services, giving admins a familiar set of management tools on that end.

On the topic of storage, just 5GB are provided gratis, with 25GB costing $2.49 per month, 100GB running you $4.99 per month and 1TB demanding $49.99 per month, with a maximum of 16TB ($799.99 per month, if you're curious) per user; thankfully, Google Docs will not be included in your usage total. Finally, the note played up the ability to "attach documents directly into your Drive Gmail," and given that it's intended to be an open platform, Goog's promising to work with third party developers in order to enhance Drive's functionality even further. The source link below is still dead as of right now, but it simply can't be long before the lights are officially turned on. Oh, and if you're not enamored at the moment, the outfit's suggesting that "many more developments" will be arriving in the coming weeks.

doesnt seem any different to dropbox but w/e

the third party app thing might cool once it gets rolling

[Mr. Gayle]

Drive give you 5gb, Dropbox only 2gb

Will sign up for Drive also

[Jefferson]

sick

5gb is nice, right off the bat

[Vtec]

Just not feeling the fact its google. Trying to control everything, I'll stick with dropbox.

[tino]

if you have a hotmail account you can upgrade from the skydrive 5gb free to 25gb for free,

[Seth Rollins]

In other words, all your sh*ts is online.

[Goddaz]

You just have to be VERY careful with what you save in the drive

/

5gb is nice, right off the bat

[Seth Rollins]

8g USB FTW. F**k this online drive sh*t.

[Goddaz]

Pipe down, sometimes a brother forgets to copy certain things on the external. This way I can log in anywhere & it's there.

At times I've gone studio only to find out something wasn't copied right if at all.

Nothing wrong with this just be careful with what you put in it/sync. I've been using dropbox for time & it's helped me out alot when it came to meetings & studio.

It's more convenient.

[Seth Rollins]

I trust you (kind of) so okay

[Captain Planet]

Dropbox >>>

Just not feeling the fact its google. Trying to control everything, I'll stick with dropbox.

Trust me long for all these other firms jumping on the bandwagon

I particularly hate skydrive just on the basis that microsoft try force you into using it on hotmail

Why must I click on send as attachment ffs

[Swiftie]

Drive give you 5gb, Dropbox only 2gb

Will sign up for Drive also

Only reason I got the 5GB.

That plus the 8GB I got with Dropbox is a nice lil backup.