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Google Offers 5 GB Of Free Storage In The Cloud

By Ian Bush

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Google has taken the wraps off its latest free service -- a storage space in the sky that can be used anywhere you have an Internet connection.

It's called Google Drive. If you've used Dropbox or Microsoft SkyDrive, you know what cloud storage lets you do.

"You can drag and drop files that are then magically whisked away to the cloud. You can access them anywhere that you log in to this Google Drive account. So it's sort of like a locker for your files."

Darren Murph, managing editor at the tech blog Engadget, says users get five gigabytes for free to stash photos and videos, but documents don't count against your limit (they're stored in Google Docs).  25 GB of space will cost $2.49 per month.

"You can get 16 terabytes of storage for only $800 a year," Murph says. "I bet a lot of businesses are going to consider switching over from Amazon Cloud accounts to this, because it's a huge cost savings."

Drive can be accessed through web browsers. There's also an Android app, with a version for iPhones and iPads coming soon.

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