Tech Report: Google Drive Combines Cloud Computing And Storage

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— You may know it as Google Documents, but Google has recently renamed its cloud service Google Drive because now it incorporates cloud storage into the package.

Similar to another free service called Dropbox, it allows you to put files such as word documents, music and pictures into your Drive folder and it will synchronize with other machines you use Google Drive on.

In theory, it could be any file you create on a PC, smartphone or tablet and it will then exist on the web and in the cloud.

KCBS Tech Report:

So if you put a file on your Google Drive folder from your Macintosh and then go to your Windows PC, it will still be there.

It also works with Google Docs, which is more than cloud storage, it's cloud computing. With Docs you're actually using software within the cloud. It's Google's spreadsheet, document and word processing program.

Drive's competitors, Dropbox and Box.net, have apps that allow you to interface nicely with the iPad. Google has an app for Android already and they're working on one for the iPhone as well.

Google will give 5 GB of storage as opposed to Dropbox which only gives 2 GB.

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