Google Drive conceptualised in Bangalore: Google

Are you scared that one day, your computer might just crash and you will lose all files, pictures and videos that you had stored for years? 

Google Documents, that link atop your Gmail account, would have answered that problem with online file storage in a small way. 

It just got bigger with Google Drive, offering 5 Gb space for free. 

And yes, this storage solution’s critical components were conceptualised and built right here in Bangalore!

Google’s engineering team in Bangalore and Hyderabad built the centralised management tools, security features and billing systems, a blog post attributed to Google India said on Wednesday, hours after the announcement of Google Drive was made in Mountain View, California, Google’s headquarters in the US.

Given the complexities in building a system that would not only store different forms of files, pictures and videos, but will also update it across various devices, the service is considered a major technological contribution out of India after the success of Hotmail and Google Maps.

According to reports on the technology media, Google Drive, while providing much the same storage services like that of Dropbox, Microsoft’s Skydrive and Apple’s iCloud, would “go much beyond the rivals” because of its integration with Google Docs, Google+, Gmail and other Google services. 

Reports suggest Google Drive, available free upto five gigabyte, USD 4.99 per month for 100 GB, USD 49.99 a month for a terabyte and USD 800 a month for16 terabyte, is at least a quarter the prices of the rivals. 

Dropbox charges USD 19.99 for a similar service. 

It is built on its existing Google Docs word processing programme, with its “easy to use” features and can be shared across mobile phones, PCs and tablets. 

Making a file available online with Google means it would be possible to search and locate them as well, without much complication. 

This would also usher in a slue of applications to edit and modify files within the Drive space. 

Apps like Aviary and Pixlr offer online picture editor, WeVideo enables online editing of videos and Docusign let people sign documents and keep updated versions.

Those like “nivio” have already come out with the document editors that would let users to edit Microsoft Word document (2010) to edit through web browsers using any device. 

"You can take all your data, regardless of which device you're on, and make it seamlessly available to you," Google’s senior vice president for Chrome and Apps projects Sundar Pichai was quoted of saying in CNET News. 

CNET News’ Stephen Shankland says: “Google Docs isn't everybody's cup of tea, but it's powerful and useful to some of us who spend a lot of our lives tethered to an Internet connection and who need to collaborate with coworkers on documents. 

And it's a steadily more capable alternative to Microsoft Office for anyone who finds Microsoft Word a relic of a bygone age.”

Google has also said it would do “deep integration” of Google Drive with its Chrome operating system, to further enhance “Google experience” on the internet.