Google Drive

Professey Chin

Now available with 5gb free on Play Store and at drive.google.com for Windows/OSX

Looks like a full replacement for Google Docs.
Wonder if they can make a dent in Dropbox

BionicRasher

The Great Chinholio wrote: »

Now available with 5gb free on Play Store and at drive.google.com for Windows/OSX

Looks like a full replacement for Google Docs.
Wonder if they can make a dent in Dropbox

Wonder if I get the 20gb I paid for with Google docs? Must check when I get home as it's hard to tell from the phone app

Professey Chin

tui0hcg wrote: »

Wonder if I get the 20gb I paid for with Google docs? Must check when I get home as it's hard to tell from the phone app

Im using the same plan and it adds it. According to the Desktop client I now have 25gb of space

BionicRasher

The Great Chinholio wrote: »

Im using the same plan and it adds it. According to the Desktop client I now have 25gb of space

Great news

C-Shore

Seems good so far.

I just hope it's more popular than Google+ because the sharing option will only work if other people are on it.
Dropbox has only just started to get traction with the regular consumer as far as I can tell, so it might be hard to get people onto this and pry them away from the ability to share folders, that they've just discovered.

Just a bit annoying to use two different services.

Ludo

Your drive is not ready!

heh?...sort it google :mad:

hardCopy

Just got this as an update to the Docs app.

Only works for personal gmail accounts at the moment, not yet enabled on our Google Apps Domain.

Having trouble downloading the desktop sync program at the minute, not sure if the problem is on my end or their servers getting hammered.

Professey Chin

Servers seem to be getting hammered a bit with so much syncing. I've it up and running on 2 pcs and phone so far with no problems

hardCopy

The Great Chinholio wrote: »

Servers seem to be getting hammered a bit with so much syncing. I've it up and running on 2 pcs and phone so far with no problems

I really hate web installers

It finally worked, after restarting the installer 10 times.

Looks good, Word, Excel and PDF files open the relevant default program on the desktop, while GDocs native documents open in a new GDocs tab in the browser.

I look forward to a Google Apps for Business rollout, whenever that happens. The ability to work from within a windows directory is perfect for users who don't like the web interface.

Sterling Archer

Looks good, but i just got and extra 23 gb off dropbox so not moving yet

Loggin in through my phone, Drive not ready yet hmmm

Chet T16

Ludo wrote: »

Your drive is not ready!

heh?...sort it google :mad:

I got that on the site but it worked when i installed the app and logged in

Ludo

Chet T16 wrote: »

I got that on the site but it worked when i installed the app and logged in

Tried that already...nada.
I use google docs a lot so updated the app today (now called google drive) but still nothing.
Saw a workaround mentioned on the web about using the app and switching user but that didnt work either.

LOL...I just logged into 3 google accounts I have which I havent used in over 6 months...Drive is enabled on them all.
The account I use 100% of the time doesn't have it...nice.

Nolimits

I got the same thing, but just received an email saying it was ready

pedatron

Still waiting for my email to tell me my account is ready. Frustrating!

Ludo

Mine activated last night also....it is kinds point less though. It is Google Docs with a new name and made slightly less usable.

MaceFace

Ludo wrote: »

Mine activated last night also....it is kinds point less though. It is Google Docs with a new name and made slightly less usable.

What you mean? It is 5GB of free online storage for anything.
No different than Dropbox (free version) from what I can see but maybe space will increase by a few GB every six months or so.

BionicRasher

Ludo wrote: »

Mine activated last night also....it is kinds point less though. It is Google Docs with a new name and made slightly less usable.

????????
it is a great service IMHO
It starts at 5GB free and the prices are really competitive
Its a great tool to have for backups of photos and things like that and the syncing to desktop drive is great

If you compare it to Dropbox it’s an almost identical service (except its far better integrated if you use any of Googles services like Gmail, Picassa, Gogle+) and its better priced too (its half the price of Dropbox if you were to get 50GB space)

Cant go wrong really

Ludo

meh...already have Dropbox and 50gigs free from Box. I guess I expected them to revamp the Docs UI rather than just rename it as Drive.

hardCopy

Ludo wrote: »

meh...already have Dropbox and 50gigs free from Box. I guess I expected them to revamp the Docs UI rather than just rename it as Drive.

I'd imagine there is more to come. Chrome apps can be integrated to allow editing of photos. I'd expect it to eventually swallow Picasa and include some kind of web player for your stored music.

BionicRasher

Actually - just noticed the pricing has changed too

Its now $2.49 for 25GB per month (this equals $1.20 per GB per Year)

I am still on my old plan of 20GB for $5 per year (which equals 25cent per GB per year)

Big jump in price but still well worth it compared to other services

28064212

tui0hcg wrote: »

If you compare it to Dropbox it’s an almost identical service (except its far better integrated if you use any of Googles services like Gmail, Picassa, Gogle+)

How is it better integrated? There's no integration at all, which is a bit of a disappointment. I was hoping that at least Picasa would be swallowed up by it, since you only get 1GB of storage on it

Ludo

hardCopy wrote: »

I'd imagine there is more to come. Chrome apps can be integrated to allow editing of photos. I'd expect it to eventually swallow Picasa and include some kind of web player for your stored music.

Yeah hopefully.

Don't get me wrong...I will use it as I am a heavy google docs user. Guess I just expected more.

Feck it anyway....just downloaded the sync app for windows at work and it can't connect to the internet...damn firewall here is blocking it. Well that makes it useless to me...crap.

Ludo

28064212 wrote: »

How is it better integrated? There's no integration at all, which is a bit of a disappointment. I was hoping that at least Picasa would be swallowed up by it, since you only get 1GB of storage on it

Well it looks like Picasa has already been swallowed by Google+.

28064212

Ludo wrote: »

Well it looks like Picasa has already been swallowed by Google+.

Not really, Google+ just provides a front-end for some sharing and uploading functionality. I rarely use it, Picasa is much better unless you're actually sharing on G+.

Proper Drive integration would be a "Pictures" folder in the Drive folder that the Picasa desktop app would use, with a similar web frontend to Picasa when you clicked into the Pictures folder

Ludo

28064212 wrote: »

Not really, Google+ just provides a front-end for some sharing and uploading functionality. I rarely use it, Picasa is much better unless you're actually sharing on G+.

Proper Drive integration would be a "Pictures" folder in the Drive folder that the Picasa desktop app would use, with a similar web frontend to Picasa when you clicked into the Pictures folder

The web side of Picasa (formerly Albums or something like that) has been moved into Google+ though. Drive would be a better place for it alright but they are hardly going to move it again.

smcelhinney

Love the product, very concerned about the terms & conditions.


For mobile users

“Your Content in our Services: When you upload or otherwise submit content to our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide licence to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes that we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content.

The rights that you grant in this licence are for the limited purpose of operating, promoting and improving our Services, and to develop new ones. This licence continues even if you stop using our Services (for example, for a business listing that you have added to Google Maps).”

28064212

Ludo wrote: »

The web side of Picasa (formerly Albums or something like that) has been moved into Google+ though. Drive would be a better place for it alright but they are hardly going to move it again.

? No it hasn't: http://picasaweb.google.com/. G+ just has a frontend to it so you can see your albums without going to Picasa

BionicRasher

28064212 wrote: »

How is it better integrated? There's no integration at all, which is a bit of a disappointment. I was hoping that at least Picasa would be swallowed up by it, since you only get 1GB of storage on it

Already integrated in to Google+ and Picasa for photos and Gmail integration already there for sharing etc

If you do a search in the Chrome store there are loads of things that it can be used with already

MindMeiser, mapping application, HelloFax lets you sign and fax docs, and even installs a folder within Drive that can store all of your incoming and outgoing faxes. WeVideo is a video editing tool, Aviary photo editor makes it possible for you to take any of your images, edit them in a new window and save the new version

this is only the start - I would think there are going to be loads more apps on the way and even heavier integration in to Google products

Zascar

smcelhinney wrote: »

Love the product, very concerned about the terms & conditions.

Tinfoil hat?

Seriously are you honestly worried that Google is going to take something of yours and broadcast it around the world? You have a better chance of winning the Euromillions I'd say...

28064212

tui0hcg wrote: »

Already integrated in to Google+ and Picasa for photos and Gmail integration already there for sharing etc

? I have G+ and Picasa and I don't see anything in Drive that relates to either

Ludo

28064212 wrote: »

? No it hasn't: http://picasaweb.google.com/. G+ just has a frontend to it so you can see your albums without going to Picasa

Ah.....the desktop version of Picasa now sends you to the G+ front end so I couldn't find the other "old" version...thanks.

Google do provide great services but their integration leaves a lot to be desired. They are always tinkering with things and appear to have no clear strategy...well, other than take over the world of course.

BionicRasher

28064212 wrote: »

? I have G+ and Picasa and I don't see anything in Drive that relates to either

Go into Google+ and share something - you will see an option to add a photo from your Google Drive. As Google drive holds all photos etc this is where my Picasa albums are synced

Also go in to Picasa web site and open a photo - it gives you an option to share to Google + and you can also download a photo from your Drive as it shows as a mapped drive now when its synced

28064212

tui0hcg wrote: »

Go into Google+ and share something - you will see an option to add a photo from your Google Drive. As Google drive holds all photos etc this is where my Picasa albums are synced

Also go in to Picasa web site and open a photo - it gives you an option to share to Google + and you can also download a photo from your Drive as it shows as a mapped drive now when its synced

That's not really integration, that's just a shortcut for copying from one to the other.

If you want to use the Picasa web site (which is far superior to the Drive site for photos), you have to sync everything to Picasa. If you want to sync your photos to Drive (for convenience), you have to sync it to both. Everytime you add a photo, you have to upload it twice. Not to mention the fact that you only have 1GB of storage on Picasa. It should be a shared storage space with Picasa as a subsection of Drive

28064212

smcelhinney wrote: »

Love the product, very concerned about the terms & conditions.


For mobile users

“Your Content in our Services: When you upload or otherwise submit content to our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide licence to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes that we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content.

The rights that you grant in this licence are for the limited purpose of operating, promoting and improving our Services, and to develop new ones. This licence continues even if you stop using our Services (for example, for a business listing that you have added to Google Maps).”

The second paragraph means Google can't use it for their own purposes. If you already use Gmail, you've already provided them with plenty of sensitive information. The T&Cs also state:

“Some of our Services allow you to submit content. You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in that content. In short, what belongs to you stays yours.”

nedd

My drive isn't ready yet :-(

I have some bought storage on Picasa already so from what I'm reading here that will migrate over to Drive but when it comes to renewing it will be more expensive(?)

BionicRasher

28064212 wrote: »

That's not really integration, that's just a shortcut for copying from one to the other.

If you want to use the Picasa web site (which is far superior to the Drive site for photos), you have to sync everything to Picasa. If you want to sync your photos to Drive (for convenience), you have to sync it to both. Everytime you add a photo, you have to upload it twice. Not to mention the fact that you only have 1GB of storage on Picasa. It should be a shared storage space with Picasa as a subsection of Drive

Hmmm – not sure I understand what your definition of integration is but to me it means that you bring together things that were previously apart. Therefore you can use them together or access one from another or copy, share or allow access to one service from another.

As for Picasa here is how I have it set up

My photos are stored locally on my PC at home in a folder called Photos which is in my Google Drive on the PC
I use this folder as the location for the Picasa app to monitor and sync and therefore all my photos are in Google Drive, on Picasa and on my PC at home

I will be looking at it however as I think the Picasa bit can be removed from the equation as you can use Pixlr to do any editing and sharing is a breeze across all platforms now really

As for storage – I am currently showing the below in my Picasa account

Storage:
21 GB
In use: 12.28 GB (58.48%)

BionicRasher

nedd wrote: »

My drive isn't ready yet :-(

I have some bought storage on Picasa already so from what I'm reading here that will migrate over to Drive but when it comes to renewing it will be more expensive(?)

Nope

From the Google site:
How to keep your old plan

Google storage plans have changed, but you can stay on your current plan as long as you:

Keep your account active
Keep payment information in Google Wallet accurate and up-to-date
Don’t cancel or upgrade your current plan
If your account lapses, your credit card is declined, or you choose to change your storage plan in any way (upgrade or downgrade), you’ll be switched to the new Google storage plan.

Ludo

tui0hcg wrote: »

Hmmm – not sure I understand what your definition of integration is but to me it means that you bring together things that were previously apart. Therefore you can use them together or access one from another or copy, share or allow access to one service from another.

So you did your own integration by moving your pictures into the Drive folder rather than google automatically (or giving the option) of making your default picasa web albums available in Drive.

What you did is fine and good but this kind of thing should be available via the ui (wither the Picasa UI, Drive UI or the web abbums ui..or all of them) and not require you moving files on your hard drive manually..that would be proper integration.

28064212

tui0hcg wrote: »

Hmmm – not sure I understand what your definition of integration is but to me it means that you bring together things that were previously apart. Therefore you can use them together or access one from another or copy, share or allow access to one service from another.

What they've provided is a glorified shortcut

tui0hcg wrote: »

As for Picasa here is how I have it set up

My photos are stored locally on my PC at home in a folder called Photos which is in my Google Drive on the PC
I use this folder as the location for the Picasa app to monitor and sync and therefore all my photos are in Google Drive, on Picasa and on my PC at home

Which means every time you put a picture in the folder, it has to be uploaded twice, once to Drive and once to Picasa. It's the same company, why is it so inefficient?

tui0hcg wrote: »

I will be looking at it however as I think the Picasa bit can be removed from the equation as you can use Pixlr to do any editing and sharing is a breeze across all platforms now really

What about captions and tagging? I just tried it out, the Drive interface for photos is awful compared to Picasa, and there's no tags at all in Drive

tui0hcg wrote: »

As for storage – I am currently showing the below in my Picasa account

Storage:
21 GB
In use: 12.28 GB (58.48%)

And in your Drive account, you have 25GB

nedd

nice! I will make sure never to let any of that happen.
I currently have 80GB for €17 a year. or i can get 100GB for €45 a year. a big difference there.

BionicRasher

Ludo wrote: »

So you did your own integration by moving your pictures into the Drive folder rather than google automatically (or giving the option) of making your default picasa web albums available in Drive.

What you did is fine and good but this kind of thing should be available via the ui (wither the Picasa UI, Drive UI or the web abbums ui..or all of them) and not require you moving files on your hard drive manually..that would be proper integration.

Don’t understand your point here??? I already had my photos on my PC and also in Google Docs as a backup and Picasa too but now its all integrated – I put a file in to the Photos folder (on any device or on the web or wherever) and its synced across all. Before I had to have the photo on my PC and that was synced to Picasa and also I had to upload to Google Docs as a backup – now it’s all done in one. I can also take a photo on the phone and it uploads automatically via instant upload to Picasa (or Google + or whatever way you access it)
At least it is giving me options
Is there other storage services that allow you to select your default picasa web albums to be the place to store photos?
TBH its not a perfect seamless operation but its day 1 of Drive so I would imagine it will become slick and smooth over the coming months

28064212 wrote: »

What they've provided is a glorified shortcut

Maybe that’s what you call it but it joins the dots between services so to me its integration

28064212 wrote: »

Which means every time you put a picture in the folder, it has to be uploaded twice, once to Drive and once to Picasa. It's the same company, why is it so inefficient?

Yes true but that’s what many people call backing up
I would imagine Picasa will drop out of the equation soon as it’s not really necessary now but I need to ensure I can reclaim the space if I remove my Picasa account. I would think I will start using Google + (which by the way looks like it has unlimited storage) as my online photo repository

28064212 wrote: »

What about captions and tagging? I just tried it out, the Drive interface for photos is awful compared to Picasa, and there's no tags at all in Drive

Google+ is good for tagging etc

28064212 wrote: »

And in your Drive account, you have 25GB

Yup

Professey Chin

28064212 wrote: »

That's not really integration, that's just a shortcut for copying from one to the other.

If you want to use the Picasa web site (which is far superior to the Drive site for photos), you have to sync everything to Picasa. If you want to sync your photos to Drive (for convenience), you have to sync it to both. Everytime you add a photo, you have to upload it twice. Not to mention the fact that you only have 1GB of storage on Picasa. It should be a shared storage space with Picasa as a subsection of Drive

I give it a month at most for a dedicated picasa sync folder to be available in Drive.
And the 1 GB limit in picasa depends how you use it. If your pictures are kept at 1600x1072 they dont count towards your storage so I upload from picasa at this and keep the original copies of the full quality locally or if I need to upload the full resolution ill probably use pix.ie. Suppose it depends what you use it for

28064212

tui0hcg wrote: »

Yes true but that’s what many people call backing up

Not when you're uploading twice to the same company. If Google suffers such a catastrophic failure that your pictures get lost, the fact that they're in Drive as well as Picasa won't save them.

tui0hcg wrote: »

I would imagine Picasa will drop out of the equation soon as it’s not really necessary now but I need to ensure I can reclaim the space if I remove my Picasa account. I would think I will start using Google + (which by the way looks like it has unlimited storage) as my online photo repository

Google+ and Picasa are integrated. They're the same thing with two different front-ends. And it's only unlimited storage for pictures which are less than 2048px on any one side, which is no good for backing-up. If you start using G+, you will still have to upload your photos twice, once to Drive and once to G+

tui0hcg wrote: »

Google+ is good for tagging etc

Except photos in Drive don't show up in Google+.

tui0hcg wrote: »

Yup

So why is it different? Why isn't it just one storage space for all your stuff, with a good picture front-end for picture files, and a docs front-end for docs. When I hit sync in the Picasa desktop app, it should be syncing to Drive now, not Picasa

The Great Chinholio wrote: »

I give it a month at most for a dedicated picasa sync folder to be available in Drive.

Hopefully, but I doubt it. If it was that close, you'd think they'd just roll it into the main release

Professey Chin

28064212 wrote: »

Hopefully, but I doubt it. If it was that close, you'd think they'd just roll it into the main release

This is Google youre talking about. Ive never seen a fully functional initial release :pac:

28064212

The Great Chinholio wrote: »

This is Google youre talking about. Ive never seen a fully functional initial release :pac:

True, where's the beta tag on the Drive logo?

cookie1977

tui0hcg wrote: »

Nope

From the Google site:
How to keep your old plan

Google storage plans have changed, but you can stay on your current plan as long as you:

Keep your account active
Keep payment information in Google Wallet accurate and up-to-date
Don’t cancel or upgrade your current plan
If your account lapses, your credit card is declined, or you choose to change your storage plan in any way (upgrade or downgrade), you’ll be switched to the new Google storage plan.

Weird thing is that while the google documentation says no I've an app on my playbook which allows me to connect to google docs and I've got 25GB's of storage space (i already buy the 20GB add-on for 5USD).

hardCopy

I'll be very surprised and disappointed if we don't soon see a pictures folder within Drive containing all our Picasa albums, probably with an option to sync or not so we don't suddenly get 100's of photos pushed to our hard drive.

BionicRasher

28064212 wrote: »

If Google suffers such a catastrophic failure

I somehow doubt that's going to happen - if it does then that's why I have a local copy too. might even throw them up to BOX also just in case aliens invade Mountain View

28064212 wrote: »

Google+ and Picasa are integrated. They're the same thing with two different front-ends. And it's only unlimited storage for pictures which are less than 2048px on any one side, which is no good for backing-up. If you start using G+, you will still have to upload your photos twice, once to Drive and once to G+

why is it not suitable for a backup? Lots of my photos from old cameras and phones would be less than 2048px

28064212 wrote: »

Except photos in Drive don't show up in Google+.

Will they show if I upload an album from Google Drive?

28064212 wrote: »

So why is it different? Why isn't it just one storage space for all your stuff, with a good picture front-end for picture files, and a docs front-end for docs. When I hit sync in the Picasa desktop app, it should be syncing to Drive now, not Picasa

I don't think anyone could provide a seamless service but tis getting close with this and its only a start of what can be done but it is Google and they don't really do things the logical way

28064212 wrote: »

Hopefully, but I doubt it. If it was that close, you'd think they'd just roll it into the main release

never happen with Google - they will always do things arse ways

28064212

tui0hcg wrote: »

I somehow doubt that's going to happen - if it does then that's why I have a local copy too. might even throw them up to BOX also just in case aliens invade Mountain View

There's nothing wrong with backing up. My point was about the double backup to the same company for no reason

tui0hcg wrote: »

why is it not suitable for a backup? Lots of my photos from old cameras and phones would be less than 2048px

And it's fine for backing up those. Not very inclusive though. If they only offered 10 MB of space I doubt anyone would say "Well, I only have 2 mp3s to back up, so it's suitable for that"

tui0hcg wrote: »

Will they show if I upload an album from Google Drive?

You can't upload an album from Google Drive, you only have the option to share from it. Even if you could, it would be a duplicate, so any changes you made to your pictures on Google+ (captions, tagging etc) wouldn't be synced back to Drive

tui0hcg wrote: »

I don't think anyone could provide a seamless service but tis getting close with this and its only a start of what can be done but it is Google and they don't really do things the logical way

Well, they would have gone a long way towards it if they had just rolled Picasa into Drive. In fact, Google Music should probably have been rolled in too. It's inevitable they're going to end up doing it anyway, but retro-fitting it is going to be a lot more difficult than doing it right in the first place

Ush1

I tried to get this but it says they will email me when mines ready??

BionicRasher

28064212 wrote: »

There's nothing wrong with backing up. My point was about the double backup to the same company for no reason

Yes that's why I may take out the Picasa step - with further integration maybe this will happen soon anyway

28064212 wrote: »

And it's fine for backing up those. Not very inclusive though. If they only offered 10 MB of space I doubt anyone would say "Well, I only have 2 mp3s to back up, so it's suitable for that"

Yup - what I am saying is pictures under that size don't count to space used so its a no brainer really to throw all these up there

28064212 wrote: »

You can't upload an album from Google Drive, you only have the option to share from it. Even if you could, it would be a duplicate, so any changes you made to your pictures on Google+ (captions, tagging etc) wouldn't be synced back to Drive

I can see an option in Google+ to upload from My Computer - from there I select my Google Drive - I know its duplication again but who cares - most of the space is free with the size of photos I am uploading

28064212 wrote: »

Well, they would have gone a long way towards it if they had just rolled Picasa into Drive. In fact, Google Music should probably have been rolled in too. It's inevitable they're going to end up doing it anyway, but retro-fitting it is going to be a lot more difficult than doing it right in the first place

True but not going to happen in a Google product release - that would be too clever!