After rumors going on for months on end, the Google Drive cloud storage service is finally live, allowing users to store content including videos, photos, Google Docs, PDFs and much more online. Currently, the company is providing 5GB of free hoarding capacity along with a choice of paid options for higher hoarding needs.
To make searching content even quicker, it employs the OCR technology which is capable of locating text in scanned documents, and image recognition. Google Docs has even earned a spot within this service. Users will be able to collaborate with others in real time, comment on documents and also access notifications.
“Today, we’re introducing Google Drive — a place where you can create, share, collaborate, and keep all of your stuff. 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,” states Sundar Pichai, SVP, Chrome & Apps via the official Google blog.
If the 5GB of free storage isn’t adequate, the Mountain View-based search giant has a host of paid subscriptions up its sleeve. Users can currently choose between upgrades such as 25GB for $2.49, 100GB for $4.99 or 1TB for $49.99, on a monthly renewal basis. Those opting for any of these paid alternatives are entitled to an expanded 25GB of storage on their Gmail account.
Google Drive can be accessed through the drive.google.com/start website with a Gmail ID. While the cloud storage service is currently available for Mac and Windows PCs as well as Android devices, an iOS version is said to be in the works.