Google launches cloud storage offering

Web giant Google has launched its long anticipated consumer cloud storage product, Google Drive. Building on its existing offerings, the service lets users create, share, collaborate on and save files in the cloud.

Cloud office software suite Google Docs is built into Google Drive, allowing users to work with others in real time on documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

Users can use their Mac or PC to access their cloud storage and can also download the Drive app to their Android phone or tablet. Google said that it is also working on a Drive app for iOS devices.

The storage is searchable by keyword and can be filtered by file type and owner and it can also recognise text in scanned documents using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology.

Users receive 5GB of storage for free or can choose to upgrade to 25GB for $2.49/month, 100GB for $4.99/month or 1TB for $49.99/month.  When users upgrade to a paid account, their Gmail account storage will also expand to 25GB.

“Whether you’re working with a friend on a joint research project, planning a wedding with your fiancé or tracking a budget with roommates, you can do it in Drive. You can upload and access all of your files, including videos, photos, Google Docs, PDFs and beyond,” said Sundar Pichai, SVP for Chrome and Apps at Google.

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