Google could be getting ready to offer up its own cloud-based storage service. That"s the word, anyway, from The Wall Street Journal, who reports via unnamed sources that Google"s cloud storage business will use the name Drive. Google could launch Drive "in the coming weeks or months."
Google"s Drive service would be similar to Dropbox or Microsoft"s Skydrive, including offering a certain amount of storage space for documents and other content for free and charging customers if they wanted a larger amount of cloud drive space. It would be a part of the company"s Google Apps line up of online software services. The story claims that Google is aiming to price its services below that of Dropbox.
Interestingly, the article claims that Google could have launched a cloud storage business several years ago. It says that Google co-founder Larry Page worked with a team to develop what was then called "G Drive". While the plan was to launch "G Drive" in late 2007, Google never followed through on those plans.
2007 also when Dropbox was founded. Since then the company has become the leader in online cloud storage services with over 45 million users. Microsoft"s Skydrive and Apple"s recent iCloud services have since been launched to offer much of the same features as Dropbox.