Google is working on its first network storage service, says a claim from the Wall Street Journal. The paper refers to anonymous sources which say the company plans to offer a mixture of free and paid service plans that would primarily serve as backup but also as a way of merging Google's various web-only and software services. A user could search through the Google drive and find photos stored locally in Picasa as well as text files stored online through Google Docs, the paper says. File management would also be virtually transparent and behave more like a drive local to the computer than a website.

Google has not confirmed the new feature but admits that online storage is an "important component" of a shift to Internet-only services, according to a spokeswoman.

If released, the Google storage is likely targeted at Microsoft's SkyDrive service that was recently refined for its Windows Live platform, but may also encroach on the territory of services such as Apple's .Mac, which also emphasizes viewing the storage as though it were local and includes backup services.