Google Drive

For a while now I have been using Google Docs in conjunction with Dropbox to save files to the cloud for access on the web.  Recently, Google introduced a new name for docs and added some great features for saving, publishing and sharing files online.  Google Drive is a cloud based file storage solution that also incorporates Google Docs and some elements of Google Plus as well.

After uploading or creating a file in Google Drive you can share it as you would previously in Docs publicly or with a link.  New to Google Drive is the ability to discuss files and folders with others on the web and also one click sharing to your Google Plus circles.  Some of the new features that I really think will be useful are the search feature which will allow you to not only search text in docs files but also scanned files.  I also liked that Google Drive will allow you to open all file types right within the application including those files that require a special program such as Photoshop files and PDFs.  For more information about Google Drive check out the video below.




Now What?

Google Drive is another service which is free and accessible form anywhere with a network connection.  These cloud based storage solutions are great for students who do not want to carry around a flash or e-mail files back and forth.  The new feature which allows for threaded comments could be quite useful for students sharing files back and forth with one another or the teacher.  Currently Google Drive is offering 5GB of free storage.