Google finally announced its Google Drive product that competes with Dropbox, Box, Microsoft SkyDrive and other cloud storage products. One of the effects of this launch is that the Google Docs for Android app was updated and renamed Google Drive. Installing the updated and renamed app on my Android tablet resulted in its widget disappearing from my home screen. This was remedied by installing the updated widget. But, it would have been nice if Google had done that for me during the update.
What is less clear is what will happen to the additional Google Docs storage that I have been paying for annually. Google charged $5 per year (that’s right, “per year”) for 20GB of additional storage for Google Docs. Google Drive charages $2.49 per month ($29.88 per year) for 25GB of storage which is still reasonable but six times more than what I currently pay.
Google Drive has not been activated for my account. So, I’m not sure what will happen to my additional paid storage or fees.
If you are interested in how Google Drive storage cost compares to other services, Engadget has a good summary article:
Google Drive vs. the competition: pricing plans and perks, compared
If you want to learn more about how the Google Docs for Android app (and widget) works, take a look at this article I wrote for BYTE: