There's been a flurry of speculation of late, surrounding Google's online storage play, the fabled "GDrive". We're always suspicious of such unconfirmed, echo-chamber-type stories, but this one is most definitely real.
The evidence lies in an online, recently-updated Google Pack file that refers to a product, called GDrive, that "provides reliable storage for all of your files, including photos, music and documents [and] allows you to access your files from anywhere, any time and from any device - be it from your desktop, web browser or mobile phone".
It is not yet clear how much storage will be available through GDrive, as Google has not yet officially announced its launch. A Google spokesperson sent a statement to ZDNet UK on Friday, which said that "cloud computing is going mainstream" and noted that "the applications people use every day, such as email, photo sharing, and word processing, are moving to the web because it's easier to share and access your data from anywhere when it's online, in one place".
"We're always listening to our users and looking for ways to update and improve our web applications, including sharing and access options, but we don't have anything new to announce right now," Google's statement read.
Quick addition. Microsoft's Live Mesh! More soon but it looks brilliant, in theory, at any rate. Access one computer's files from another, synchronise stuff. Sounds like exactly what I've wanted for ages and this could transform the way we all work. OK. I'll calm down. Go check out Office Watch and make your own mind up.
1 comment:
Hi Andrew,
I work for www.nomadesk.com, which offers easy and secure file sharing, wherever you are. I read your post on Google's GDrive with great interest and just wanted to add NomaDesk to the mix.
NomaDesk, trusted by mobile (“nomadic”) businesses for several years now both in Europe and the U.S., has similar features such as the ones you mention. We are convinced that the more data gets synchronized, the more likely it gets compromised. Therefore, NomaDesk includes an encrypted virtual drive that keeps your files securely available off-line and remote file shredding and IP-tracking with TheftGuard. Of course, we impose no limits on storage and bandwidth.A Mac version is on its way.
NomaDesk works with a local client and allows access to your files from anywhere on the web. We have very good reasons to work with a local client, next to the already "traditional" web interface (e.g., box.net, the late Xdrive, etc.):
(1) 100% availability of the data, regardless of network quality
(2) 100% performance when editing files, using any type of program
(3) 100% simplicity; just drag-n-drop files to synchronize and share them
(4) 100% security on the PC also: the virtual drives that NomaDesk creates on the PC are encrypted and can be shred remotely via our online TheftGuard service.
The bulk of our users, which are SOHO and SMB teams, appreciate the straightforward and secure file sharing they get through using the NomaDesk client software. You should know that in most cases NomaDesk replaces the traditional file server, FTP and VPN - with success!
Please let me know your thoughts.
Kind regards,
F.
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