The long rumored GDrive, an online file storage mechanism from Google, may finally be released in the coming months. The Wall Street Journal claims that "people familiar with the matter" say GDrive could be released "as early as a few months from now."
The GDrive rumors have been around for years now and at this point is hardly seems speculative to say that Google will launch a storage service — Microsoft has one, Apple has one, AOL has one and there's dozens of others like Box.net — the question is when? Unfortunately on that score the WSJ remains as fuzzy as the rest of us.
The GDrive concept was first leaked several years ago (and it was popular nominee for our vaporware awards last year). If internal leaks are any indication, even Google employees are frustrated with GDrive's failure to materialize. In an internal video leaked back in August, a Google employee referring to GDrive wrote: “I've been ready to launch my product since 2002… At least round here 5 years ain't so long overdue.”
With programs like Gmail Space, which gives you hard drive style access to your unused Gmail storage space, already a popular way to emulate the fabled GDrive, there's no doubt such a service would be a hit, but beyond the obvious, the Journal doesn't really add anything new to the story.
Other details in the WSJ story include the obvious — there will be a limited amount of free storage with payment options for those that want more, uploading files will likely happen via a web-based interface with mobile access options as well. It's also likely GDrive will integrate with Google Docs and other file-based services. While the WSJ doesn't mention it, we'll go out on a limb and suggest that eventually there'll be some sort of API for accessing your files via third party programs.
Really the only thing the WSJ is adding to the story is a vague timeframe taken from unnamed sources.
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