Google Drive Launched, Get 5GB of Free Storage NOW

Finally Google has launched its cloud-based file storage service “Google Drive” to public. Its a free service which can be used to create, share, collaborate, and keep all of your stuff online. You can upload and access all of your files, including videos, photos, Google Docs, PDFs and much more using Google Drive.

Google Drive is a new home for your Google Docs, files, and folders. Google Drive allows you to:

• Create, share, and manage files
• Safely store all your files in one place
• Sync files from your computer
• Access your most up-to-date files from any device or browser
• Access on the go with the mobile app

According to Google’s official announcement, with Google Drive, you can:

Create and collaborate: Google Docs is built right into Google Drive, so you can work with others in real time on documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Once you choose to share content with others, you can add and reply to comments on anything (PDF, image, video file, etc.) and receive notifications when other people comment on shared items.

Store everything safely and access it anywhere (especially while on the go):You can access your stuff from anywhere – on the web, in your home, at the office, while running errands and from all of your devices. You can install Google Drive on your Mac or PC and can download the Google Drive app to your Android phone or tablet. Google is also working hard on a Google Drive app for iOS devices. And regardless of platform, blind users can access Google Drive with a screen reader.

Search everything: Search by keyword and filter by file type, owner and more. Google Drive can even recognize text in scanned documents using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. Let’s say you upload a scanned image of an old newspaper clipping. You can search for a word from the text of the actual article. Google Drive also uses image recognition so that if you drag and drop photos from your Grand Canyon trip into Google Drive, you can later search for [grand canyon] and photos of its gorges should pop up.

Google Drive is built to work seamlessly with your overall Google experience. You can attach photos from Google Drive to posts in Google+, and soon you’ll be able to attach stuff from Google Drive directly to emails in Gmail. Google Drive is also an open platform, so Google is working with many third-party developers so you can do things like send faxes, edit videos and create website mockups directly from Google Drive.

To install these apps, visit the Chrome Web Store and look out for even more useful apps in the future.

You can get started with 5GB of storage for free which is enough to store the high-res photos of your trips, etc. You can choose to upgrade to 25GB for $2.49/month, 100GB for $4.99/month or even 1TB for $49.99/month. When you upgrade to a paid account, your Gmail account storage will also expand to 25GB.

Google Drive is available for:

• Windows and Mac
• iPhone and iPad (coming soon)
• Android devices

Get Started with Google Drive

So are you going to use Google Drive?