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By Cara Garretson
Google announced Tuesday that it plans to introduce new capabilities to Google Docs that will let users upload and store any type of file.
These upload enhancements, slated to be rolled out over the next couple of weeks, will allow the Google Docs service to act as a file-sharing mechanism, where users can upload documents that might be too big to easily e-mail or store on removable media and access them from any computer, according to the company. The new enhancements will be available to users of the stand-alone Google Docs, as well as to users of the Google Apps productivity suite.
Google is allotting users 1GB of free storage space for files that aren't converted into a Google Docs format -- such as a document, spreadsheet, or presentation -- with maximum file sizes of 250MB. Additional storage will be available for $0.25 per GB per year. Google Apps Premier Edition customers will be able to purchase additional storage for $3.50 per GB per year.
In addition to offering Google Docs users a way to share and access files, Google is also pitching this enhanced service as a means for backing up and storing files of any kind.
"You might even be able to replace the USB drive you reserved for those files that are too big to send over email," says the Google Docs blog.
Google Docs will also include tools that let users organize their files stored on the service and create shared folders that are searchable so other users can collaborate on a stored document. Users will be able to view many common document file types from the service using the Google Docs viewer, the company says.
These enhancements to Google Docs are designed for both consumer and corporate users. For businesses, Google is promoting the service as an alternative to users e-mailing documents to themselves, carrying around thumb drives or other removable media, and even accessing the corporate network -- which brings up the question of how secure storing sensitive information in the cloud really is.
"You can even have your sales team securely share contracts with external clients for review," reads a post on the Google Enterprise blog by Anil Sabharwal, product manager for Google Apps, although no specifics of how these contracts would be secured are mentioned.
Google Apps Premier Edition users will be able to use the Google Documents List Data API to upload files in batches, or leverage third-party applications to migrate files to the service and synchronize them, the company says. The Google Enterprise blog mentions three such programs: Memeo Connect for Google Apps, which migrates, synchronizes, and allows access to files on Google Docs from a Mac or PC; Syncplicity, a business application for automated back up and file management with Google Docs; and Manymoon, an online project management platform for organizing and sharing tasks and documents stored on Google Docs.
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