Google drive launches

The search giant has finally launched the mythical Google Drive, the long-awaited and oft-rumoured cloud-storage system.

Even Google has acknowledged the mystique that surrounds the product, writing, “just like the Loch Ness Monster, you may have heard the rumors about Google Drive. It turns out, one of the two actually does exist,” in their official announcement.

The service works like the popular Dropbox, which means that the drive shall exist as a folder in one’s desktop, which then downloads files from the user’s Google Docs account. These files then open on one’s desktop browser.

Working with Google Docs provides drive with the features of the former, such as easy collaboration and sharing of documents, spreadsheets and presentations. The service supports over 30 file formats including those from Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, meaning users without access to the said programs can still view the contents of the file, straight from the browser.

With a built-in optical character recognition, searching documents, even those that have been scanned is a breeze, though Google warns that the technology is still in its early stages but shall get better over time.

Users of the drive get 5GB of free-storage space, which is then upgradeable to 25GB for $2.49 a month, 100GB for $4.99 a month, and even 1TB for $49.99 per month. Google added that when a user upgrades to a paid account, his/her Gmail storage is automatically expanded to 25GB.

The service’s stand-alone program is currently available for Windows and Mac PCs, as well as Android devices, but Google say they are “also working hard on a Drive app for your iOS devices,” which means users of the iPhone, the iPod, and the iPod touch would have to wait before they can have Google Drive on their device.

Android in trouble

While Google users are rejoicing with the launch of Google Drive, it is not entirely a great week for users of the search giant’s operating system.

An article on the businessinsider details how this year may not be for Google’s mobile operating system, the open-source Android.

According to Jay Yarow, while 2011’s mobile story was the rise of Android, for this year, it appears as if the mobile OS of the search giant may be in choppy waters this year.

Yarow points to more than a couple of problems that the OS is currently facing – Apple’s iOS expanding to other carriers, waning developer interest, problem with partner carriers, a super fragmented system and the coming support for Windows mobile.

Based on a survey of over 2,000 developers from Appcelerator, developer interest to the platform has steadily been waning because its monetary returns to developers lag behind iOS and, increasingly, the Amazon Appstore. At the same time, developers also face the increasing complexity of the platform with every software update and manufacturer iteration.

Also related to the issue of fragmentation is the continued lack of penetration of later Android flavors among its users.  Based on data from Google’s Android developer site, 63% of its users still use Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread), which has already been superseded by 3.0 (Honeycomb) and 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).

This year’s most successful Android device, the Amazon Kindle Fire, is even troublesome as it is a “fork” of the Android, Amazon used Android as a base then developed a new OS on top of it.

Meanwhile, Google’s decision to buy Motorola is making smartphone manufacturers apprehensive as it may mean that Google shall be manufacturing hardware as well, like Apple.

Lastly, carriers, especially in the US, are beginning to prepare marketing Windows Phones. AT&T is reportedly spending around $150 million in marketing Windows Phones. Verizon CFO Fran Shammo meanwhile says “We helped create the Android platform from the beginning and it is an incredible platform today, and we are looking to do the same thing with a third ecosystem [Windows]."

While many remain skeptical of the potential in Windows Phones, the fact remains that as iOS continues to dominate both the smartphone and the tablet market, any addition to the competition is only bad for Android.

Actual sales in fact reveal the problem that Google Android is in. According to Verizon, for the first quarter of this year, out of 6.2 million total smartphones sold, 3.2 million were iPhones, which means that the iPhone sold more than all other smartphones and OS combinations combined.

View your Gmail usage stats with Google Docs

Rounding-off this Google news round-up Google Meter, a nifty script powered by Google Apps Script that reveals a user’s Gmail usage statistics.

Google Meter is a script that has been developed by Romain Vialard, a Top Contributor on Google Apps Scripts. The script runs on the first day of everyday of the month and sends you an email containing your Gmail usage for that month.

Gmail Meter provides information on the number of important and starred messages, the people who sent you emails, an estimate of when you receive and send emails during a given month, your weekly email traffic, how you categorize and label emails how long it takes you to reply to a message, and the length of your emails and the conversation threads you participate in.

Gmail Meter can be set-up by going to Google Docs and opening a new spreadsheet, click on Tools > Script Gallery. Search for “Gmail Meter” and click Install. You will now see a new menu item called Gmail Meter on your spreadsheet. Click on Gmail Meter > Get a Report. You can then choose the type of report. Preparing a report may take some time and you will get an email once the report is ready.

Gmail meter may prove to be a valuable tool towards email efficiency, towards that zero-inbox you’ve been dreaming of.