Google Inc stepped up competition with Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp in cloud computing, enabling users to store documents, audio clips and videos through a Web connection.
The Google Drive service, beginning on Tuesday, gives users online storage similar to a hard drive's, allowing access to files from computers and other devices, said Sundar Pichai, Google senior vice-president. As much as five gigabytes of cloud-based storage is provided free, while users may pay $2.49 a month for 25 gigabytes and higher fees for more.
Google's service helps the company expand beyond its search engine and query-based advertising. Apple has a similar offering called iCloud.
