The story broke earlier this morning that Google announced its entry into the cloud proper with the Google Drive service. Featuring 5GB of free space for all users, Google Drive allows users to store their files online and even share files from there.
The service is fully integrated with Google Docs – but otherwise there’s not much changed in terms of functionality with Google Docs, except now you can search not just within documents from Google Docs, but from all documents that you upload. Furthermore, you can now search for pictures – Google says it is a little buggy now, but will improve in time.
People who need more space can upgrade to 25GB for US$2.49 (S$3.10) a month, 100GB for US$4.99 a month and 1TB for US$49.99 a month.
Google Drive is available on Macs and PCs and Android phones, however, an iOS version is yet to be released. The service will also take time to roll out to all users, so keep checking if your account is activated.
Google’s Drive joins a whole host of other cloud storage alternatives, such as the ever-popular Dropbox, Microsoft’s SkyDrive and Apple’s iCloud. In Singapore, we have our own local version — SingTel’s Store And Share, which offers up to 10GB storage free.
SingTel’s Store And Share is open to SingTel subscribers, and works on both PCs and Macs, and mobile devices running iOS and Android platforms.
Users of SingNet’s fibre broadband will be given 10GB of free storage, while SingTel 3G Flexi and iFlexi mobile plan customers will enjoy 500MB of free storage. SingNet ADSL broadband subscribers will have to pay for the service, starting at S$1 per month for 2GB, S$4 for 10GB and S$8 per month for 30GB. Mio Home customers can use the Store And Share service at S$3 per month for 10GB. Users who require additional storage can purchase it at S$0.50 for every additional 500MB per month.
SingTel says that users of Store And Share can also use it to share files via SMS, social networks, instant messaging and email. Users can also use it to edit photos and documents on the go, and have the changes updated online instantly.
Store And Share also allows users to schedule an automatic backup of files of their choice from their PCs using the Smart Backup feature.
So what’s your cloud storage service of choice?
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