Google Drive: Google Targets Dropbox with Cloud Storage Tool

Google Launches Google Drive

Google has announced the launch of Google Drive, a cloud storage system built to rival that of Dropbox. Google's cloud-based storage system has been a long-standing rumor; and, as Google also works on a cloud-based netbook OS, a foregone conclusion. Well, Google Drive is here.

Google Drive starts users off with 5GB of storage (more than twice that of Dropbox's free version), and boasts interoperability with Google Docs.

Google Drive's other big selling point is optical character recognition: the ability to transcribe text on an image, for example, to a more shareable format. 

Google Drive can be accessed via a web browser, or with Mac, PC or Android-based clients. There is no Google Drive client for Linux, though; at least not yet. Also, no iPhone app for Google Drive at the moment, but apparently it's on the way.

Google Drive is rolling out incrementally: not all of Google's registered users have access to it yet.

Google Joins the Battle for the Cloud

Google's could-computing service is just off the ground, but speculation is already underway: can Google Drive beat offerings like Dropbox or SkyDrive? It's hard to tell, especially since the Google Drive specs got leaked, perhaps prompting an earlier-than-planned announcement.

At first blush, Google Drive feels very... corporate. Clearly the product targets enterprise users.

Also, just building something that works doesn't guarantee uptake: just look at Google Plus: a very usable network, with lots of registered users... who, for the most part, never really use Google Plus in a meaningful way.

Google Drive doesn't offer anything truly new, but finally delivers cloud-storage to the Gmail-Google Docs ecosystem. Also, unlike Dropbox, there is no locally-saved version of your files: they're solely stored in the cloud.

Also, Google's new privacy policy: do you really want all of your docs and pics with the same storage provider?