- published: 03 Jun 2016
- views: 71109
Google Drive is a file storage and sync service by Google that was released on April 24, 2012. Google Drive is an extension of Google Docs, allowing users to store all types of files on the Google servers. Rumors about Google Drive began circulating as early as March 2006.
Google Drive gives the user a free-of-charge cloud storage of 5 gigabytes to start with. Extra storage, which is shared between Picasa and Google Drive, from 25 GB (2.49 USD/month) up to 16 TB can be acquired through a paid monthly subscription plan.
There are third-party Google Drive apps which can be installed from the Chrome Web Store. These apps, running in Google Chrome, are operating on the online files, and can be used to edit images and videos, fax and sign documents, manage projects, create flowcharts, etc.
Besides the web page, Google Drive needs a client to synchronize files. At the start of the service the client software was available for the following devices: on PCs running Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, or Mac OS X Lion (10.7) and Snow Leopard (10.6); on Android smartphones and tablets with Eclair and newer OSes (Android 2.1+); on iPhones and iPads, iOS 3.0+. Linux support is underway. According to Sundar Pichai of Google, the Google Drive online storage service will be tightly integrated with Chrome OS version 20.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is an American multinational corporation which provides Internet-related products and services, including Internet search, cloud computing, software and advertising technologies. Advertising revenues from AdWords generate almost all of the company's profits.
The company was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while both attended Stanford University. Together, Brin and Page own about 16 percent of the company's stake. Google was first incorporated as a privately held company on September 4, 1998, and its initial public offering followed on August 19, 2004. The company's mission statement from the outset was "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful", and the company's unofficial slogan is "Don't be evil". In 2006, the company moved to its current headquarters in Mountain View, California.
Rapid growth since incorporation has triggered a chain of products, acquisitions, and partnerships beyond the company's core web search engine. The company offers online productivity software including email, an office suite, and social networking. Google's products extend to the desktop as well, with applications for web browsing, organizing & editing photos, and instant messaging. Google leads the development of the Android mobile operating system, as well as the Google Chrome OS browser-only operating system, found on specialized netbooks called Chromebooks.
Drive may refer to: