Google Drive vs Dropbox vs SkyDrive

So here's a quick round up of each of these cloud services so you can get the most for your money (or free!).

Google Drive
Drive is Google's new product and brings the cloud storage of Google Doc's to all file types and sync's with your desktop using applications. Google is a late entrant into the cloud file storage market, but have been a leader for other cloud services, such as web mail, for a long time. Their Google Doc's is also pretty handy as you can edit documents from within a browser, with no need to download, edit and then upload. It just cuts out the hassle.

Dropbox
Dropbox is the most popular cloud storage system with 45 million users according to lockergnome.com. The service allows you to access your files through the slick web based UI or apps for computers and mobile devices. You can increase your free allocation of the storage space by simply completing the tutorial and then spreading the word with your friends, family and colleagues. Each sign up gets you both an extra 500MB of space!

SkyDrive
Microsoft's offering is fully integrated with their Office Web Apps system, which is like Google Doc's but actually Word, Excel etc. The system also features the app's for syncing and viewing content on various platforms. It also works with the Hotmail web mail service to help users transfer large files with attaching them to emails.

Comparison
The file storage options are compared below.

Working on the Go

As a an experiment this blog post is being typed using an iPhone on the go. A previous blog post on Web Warp Blog hinted towards using an iPhone (or similar smart phone) as a netbook replacement. In fact it's a netbook that lives in your pocket and not your breifcase.

To maximise the productivity of working on the go it is wise to look into QuickOffice for the iPhone. The premium version of the app allows integration with several online cloud storage services including Google Docs, Dropbox, Box.net and Apple's MobileMe iDisk. This app allows editing for Word and Excel files on the go. Some features aren't available such as graphs in the spreadsheet editor. As a basic editting tool for word documents the app performs seamlessly.

To make typing easier the iOS 4 software for the iPhone and iPod Touch allows you to use a bluetooth keyboard (excludes iPhone 3G).

The only issue is getting a decent 3G signal, but that really depends to where you are.

Happy Mobile Computing!

Online Sync Options Overview

Backing up is VERY important. If your computer broke right now - completely - where would it leave you? Some users would have lost every file they have ever created. They would no longer have their email contacts, documents, photos and music. Just think of all those holiday snaps and memories gone because you failed to backup. Well I don't think this should ever be an issue for webusers again because there are loads of services out there that allow you to store you personal files on the internet in a safe password protected area of a server.

Unfortunately for users these services are a little complicated to compare. They typically provide multiple services which make each seem unique, however they are all essentially the same. They are online storage for you to store information. The main differences are:

• The applications/methods used to move your data to and from these services.
• The encouraged use of the storage in terms of data type (i.e. photos / contacts etc).
• Collaboration and sharing options.
• Price.

Well Web Warp Blog is here to help enlighten you as to whats available out there and few pros and cons for your consideration. There are so many services that this post is limited to only a few examples as I would probably online trust well establishes companies to look after my data which I share with their servers. And after all, I'm trying to be concise!

In previous analysis of these services Web Warp Blog looked at them for their life organising skills which synchronising web bookmarks (favorites to IE users), contacts, calendars etc. To have a quick read: Google Sync vs Apple's MobileMe.

So a quick summary of the services of note are:

• Windows Live Sync - Allows syncing of files across computers on the same network.
• MobileMe - Focused on syncing personal data such as contacts & calendars.
• Google - Focuses on online editing of office type documents.
• Flickr - Purely based on Photo uploads and public sharing.
• Dropbox - Allows syncing of files and version backup.
• Box - Focused on business customers and large storage amounts.
• Humyo - Emphasises trust. 

So Web Warp Blog will look some of these services in more detail in a series of blog posts.

Google Sync vs MobileMe

Google are really treading on Apple's toes with some of their latest features - it's making MobileMe look very expensive! A year ago Apple's MobileMe service was fairly good value, keeping all your personal information in sync across multiple devices with over the air updates to/from your iPhone & Mac & PC & iPod Touch, it was great for £59 a year. Calendars, contacts and emails all synced with a single point, www.me.com, which works really well. Also you get web space for an iDisk which saves you carrying around a USB Flash drive. Unfortunately for Apple though, Google now offer many equivalent services. Google Sync is the main equivalent product, it uses Microsoft Exchange Server to push email, contacts and calendars.

Email
I never really used my MobileMe email address because I didn't want to be tied into a contract to keep my email address. Google's GMail service is free for personal users and funded by advertising. A point to make about GMail's advert's is that although they are text based and discreet (unlike Windows Live Mail), Google's server reads your email in order to show you adverts that you may be interested in due to the content of the email. With MobileMe emails are pushed to your iPhone, but with Google Sync you can get your emails from any device that works with Microsoft Exchange Server. So push emails arrive on your Windows Phone or iPhone.

Verdict: Google

Contacts
MobileMe syncs contacts seamlessly over the air, perfectly. Google Sync only allow a limited number of fields per contact, but it is free! Contacts work with Blackberry, Nokia S60, Windows and iPhone using Google sync. Apple's service is limited to the iPhone.

Verdict: Apple

Calender
The MobileMe calendar is really good but I wish you could edit which calender an event sits in on an iPhone. Google calender doesn't look half as slick as MobileMe, but it costs way less than half as much! As with the Contacts above Google Sync supports many more devices.

Verdict: Google

Bookmarks (Favourites in Internet Explorer)
Google Chrome offers a Bookmark Sync service with their super fast web browser. You can sync Safari bookmarks over MobileMe. The system works well - but the Google version is free!

Verdict: Google

Gallery
The MobileMe web galleries are really slick and sync fast with iPhoto. They don't always work in Internet Explorer though, which is a shame. Picasa web albums are uploaded via Picasa 3, which isn't available for Mac.

Verdict: Apple

iDisk
The iDisk is the best MobileMe feature and has no direct competition from Google. The much rumoured GDisk is almost inevitable one day with web storage already available through Google Docs and the much anticipated of web based storage for the Google Chrome OS netbooks.

So the choice is yours! Most likely a mixture of services from different websites/companies will give the best end user experience. For example flickr is probably the industry standard photo sharing site, but it won't push emails to your smart phone!