Google is reportedly planning to release a cloud storage service called Drive to rival Dropbox, letting users store their files online which can be retrieved from multiple devices, such as PCs and smartphones.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Google’s Drive service will let users store photos, documents and videos on Google’s servers, letting people access the files from any web-connected device or share them with others.
The service will reportedly launch in the next few weeks or months and will be free for most consumers and businesses, with a fee charged for those who want to store large amounts of files. Drive could be priced more competitively than Dropbox, helping it rival the popular service.
Dropbox lets users drag and drop documents into the cloud and synchronise their Dropbox folders across a number of web-connected devices. The company was founded in 2007 and in October 2011 it had more than 45m users who saved 1bn files every few days.
The firm also turned down an acquisition offer from Apple, according to its CEO Drew Houston. Apple then released its own cloud storage service, iCloud, in October, exclusively for Apple devices.
