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22.4.12

Google Drive leaks in Android Developers Hangout



Google Drive -- the search giant's cloud storage system -- is all but official, with leaks coming thick and fast. And this one is about as real as they come.

During an Android Developers Hangout on Google Plus, one of the Google employees showed off an Android phone with a list of sharing options, one of which was Google Drive. Complete with the three-coloured folded triangle icon that leaked a while ago. Google yanked the video sharpish, but not before it was archived, Pocketnow reports. Click through to see it for yourself.

The Drive icon makes an appearance about 18 seconds in. It's the second one down, though all the icons are a bit blurred.


Which just about proves that Drive exists. The last thing we heard was that Drive was due to be announced next week, and that you'd get 5GB free storage, which is more than the 2GB offered by Dropbox. Though you're expected to be able to pay to boost that. According to a leaked screenshot at the end of last month, you'll be able to tweak documents, and those changes will appear like magic on the versions stored on your PC, mobile, tablet, and wherever else you keep your docs.

It's expected to work almost identically to Dropbox. The leaked screenshot read: "Put your files in Google Drive and you can access them on your desktop, mobile phone or tablet, and drive.google.com". Sounds like Dropbox to me. But given the service's simplicity, that's no bad thing.

Samsung is also rumoured to launch its own cloud-based back-up service along with the Galaxy S3 at the event on 3 May. Its service is said to be called S-Cloud. It sounds very similar to others already available, with 5GB free storage, and possibly the option to pay for more, though details are pretty scarce.

Would you use Google Drive, or will you stick with Dropbox? Or will you wait for Samsung's S-Cloud? And how can one service stand out from the others? Let me know in the comments below.. Thank you.