What is Google Drive?

Google Drive has been rumoured for quite some time, and the company has finally revealed just what this online digital locker will offer. We take a look at the service and see what features it offers and how it compares to other services from Apple, Dropbox and Microsoft.

By David Gilbert:

So, what is Google Drive? Essentially Google Drive is a cloud-based locker for your content which is primarily focused on documents and will let you access your content from a range of devices including laptops, PCs, smartphones and tablets whenever you want.

Google is giving all users 5GB of free storage with the option to upgrade to 25GB for $2.50 (£1.55) per month or for power users there is an option for 1TB of storage for $49.99 per month. Users can store documents, presentations, spreadsheets, photos and HD video in the online locker.

As well as being able to access Google Drive through your browser, there are desktop apps for Windows and Mac, as well as smartphone and tablet apps, though only for Android devices (version 2.1 and upwards) initially. Versions of the app for the hugely popular iPhone and iPad are due in the next few weeks

Users will be faced with a simplified grid interface which will allow them to drag and drop files into a folder called My Drive, which is found in the navigation bar in the right hand side of the window. Because this is a cloud-based service your documents will not be stored locally and you will need to be connected to the internet to upload them.

There is however an offline mode, letting you read or view the documents and files you are working on as long as you have retrieved them before losing your connection.

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