GOOGLE DROPS INTO GROWING CLOUD-STORAGE FIELD

Clouds in the news this week weren't only about the weather. Google Inc. on Tuesday made its long-awaited plunge into the cloud-storage field as it unveiled Google Drive. This system promises to make life a little easier for folks who spend a good part of their day working on the computer.

Google Drive is a repository where you can store virtually any type of file -- word documents, spreadsheets, PDFs, images (though notably, not music) -- and access them instantly from any computer you use, as long as it's connected to the Internet.

That means I can start a report on my home computer, access it from the cloud on my laptop at the coffee shop and put on the finishing touches at my desktop computer at work.

Google Drive is closely integrated with the existing suite of Google Docs tools as well as a few dozen third-party apps. That means storing, fetching and sharing a variety of documents can be achieved easily and quickly, usually with just a click or two. You can also designate files or folders as sharable, thus allowing friends to access photographs or reports without the muss and fuss of email or other bulkier file-sharing methods.

Google Docs lets you work on documents with other users - up to 50 if you choose. All can see any changes anyone else makes in real time.

All you need to take advantage of Google Drive is a Google account -- if you are using Google Docs or Gmail, you already have one. Google will provide you with 5 gigabytes of storage space for free, which should be more than adequate for most users.

If your storage needs are greater, Google's pricing structure is competitive: Expanding storage to 25 GB is $30 a year; 100 GB is $60 a year.

This structure compares favorably to Google Drive's competitors, such as DropBox.

DropBox, easily one of the most popular online storage sites largely because of its ease of use, lets you drag and drop files to a Windows status bar icon to make those files accessible from any other computer you use or from anyone you grant sharing rights to. But DropBox offers only 2 GB of storage space for free -- to expand to 50 GB you'll pay $120 a year, or a hefty $240 for 100 GB.

Sugarsynch, another highly regarded storage site, offers users 5 GB for free; 30 GB is $50 a year and 100 GB is $150 a year.

Perhaps Google Drive's strongest competitor is Microsoft Corp.'s SkyDrive. Although it initially offered users 25 GB for free (as I reported earlier this year) this week it suddenly cut that allotment to 7 GB for new customers. Those who already signed up for the 25 GB must visit the site soon and apply for a waiver of the reduced limit.

New SkyDrive applicants can get an additional 20 GB for $10 a year, an extra 50 GB for $25 a year or an additional 100 GB for $50 a year.

Frankly, I see no reason why users can't sign up for multiple cloud storage sites, take advantage of their free options and save various types of files at the different sites. You'll need to keep track of which files are stored at which sites. I save email at one site, personal documents at another and images at yet another.

If your space requirements increase -- you may want to use one site for backups of your entire drive or for large video or music collections -- then you can choose the site you are most comfortable with and pay the annual fee.

Aside from pricing considerations, ease of use should be the other key factor when choosing a cloud storage service. Google will have a great advantage, with its service working seamlessly with photo and video editing resources, Gmail, spreadsheets, OCR utilities and assorted other tools and apps.

Upgrade by logging on to Google Docs (or registering if you are a new user) and downloading the small installation file. You'll be up and running with your new Google Drive in two minutes. It's available for PC, Macs and Android devices. An app for iPad and iPhones should be available later this year.

Credit: Contact Peter Grad at [email protected]