The story broke earlier this morning that Google announced its entry into the cloud proper with the Google Drive service. Featuring 5GB of free space for all users, Google Drive allows users to store their files online and even share files from there. The service is fully integrated with Google Docs - but otherwise there's not much changed in terms of functionality with Google Docs, except now you can search not just within documents from Google Docs, but from all documents that you upload. Furthermore, you can now search for pictures - Google says it is a little buggy now, but will improve in time. People who need more space can upgrade to 25GB for US$2.49 (S$3.10) a month, 100GB for US$4.99 a month and 1TB for US$49.99 a month.

Google Drive is available on Macs and PCs and Android phones, however, an iOS version is yet to be released. The service will also take time to roll out to all users, so keep checking if your account is activated. Google's Drive joins a whole host of other cloud storage alternatives, such as the ever-popular Dropbox, Microsoft's SkyDrive and Apple's iCloud. In Singapore, we have our own local version -- SingTel's Store And Share, which offers up to 10GB storage free. SingTel's Store And Share is open to SingTel subscribers, and works on both PCs and Macs, and mobile devices running iOS and Android platforms.