Google Drive - Likely To Attract Users?

Google Drive like to attract users away from competitors

Google has used Documents as a way of storing files online and the feature has been around for a while. Picasa, also owned by Google, is used for photos and images. But online storage is becoming very popular amongst those on the move, not wishing to carry external/flash drives etc. and want to access all their files on multiple devices. Connections to these devices are not universal, so it makes sense to have an online storage area for all your documents.

Google are due to launch Google Drive this month (April) and it is believed that the allocated free cloud storage will be around 5GB (previously rumored to be 1GB). Google allows 7GB of space free with their email service Gmail, so 5GB does seem to fall short of this, particularly as the cloud storage competition allow far more. Box recently offered 50GB to all Android users and had done so previously with iPhone users. Dropbox offers 2GB to start off with, but after recommending friends and family, more storage is acquired. Google will be competing with these already established companies with less storage space. Not a good move in all honesty.

The Dropbox interface is so easy to follow and use, so Google will really need to outsmart competition and provide features more features that current users are used to. And add much more value.

It is expected that Google will offer use across multiple devices such as smartphones, tablets and computers. It is also likely that Google Drive will allow multiple access to edit files, like how Dropbox and many others allow. This is a key feature for users, especially in the business world. It is also likely that Google Drive will be fully integrated into other services they provide in the same way that Box has developed with software packages in recently months. This may give them the edge as millions already use their other services such as Gmail, Documents etc.

Question is, is 5GB enough to allow users to migrate from huge names such as Dropbox, Memopal, iCloud and JustCloud? We think it will be simply be another of Google's attempts to compete with companies who have already spent a vast amount of time researching and developing an idea. We'll know soon enough, although Google have been close to launching a cloud service product for a good number of years, so maybe we shoudnt hold our breath.