Leak confirms Google GDrive online storage
updated 10:25 am EST, Fri January 30, 2009
Google GDrive Leak
A text description found in a JavaScript file for Google Pack has confirmed work on a multi-platform online storage service. At least tentatively referred to as GDrive, the service will be Google's first alternative to services like Microsoft's SkyDrive and is characterized as a general purpose, multi-platform service that would let users access any kind of file, including from handhelds and others sometimes locked out of Internet storage.
"GDrive provides reliable storage for all of your files, including photos, music and documents," the entry reads. "GDrive allows you to access your files from anywhere, anytime, and from any device - be it from your desktop, web browser or cellular phone."
How the feature would work and what kind of support it requires are unknown, though cloud services have formed an important core of Google's own Android operating system and are therefore likely to see GDrive integrated with the T-Mobile G1 or other Android handsets.
Remote access to storage is available on iPhones, Windows Mobile devices and other portable hardware but usually involves accessing a home computer's content or only specific file types.
TAGS :
iPhone, industry, Microsoft, upgrades/storage, Google, Windows Mobile, networking, Android, SkyDrive
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: May 2005
A touch of Big Brother...
Google has so far been able to deliver incredibly tightly integrated online services that are lean, fast, intuitive and very much consumer-friendly. from G-mail to Picasa Web, to Google Documents, to Google Maps, Calendars, Groups, iGoogle, all this stuff is tightly integrated and provides a completely integrated, tight and consistent suite of services. Add to that online storage and you only need a netbook (hopefully, with a bigger screen) to do most things you now do on a full desktop computer.
However, I can't help but worry about the amount of data I'll be trusting Google with. Ability to search (= mine) through that data is neat for a consumer, but Google is still a commercial entity and we all know the level of privacy laws in the US; any government agency can ask (and usually get) anything from Google, Yahoo or others, about any one citizen, without justification, court order, warrant, or notification to the user.