Google Drive has all the makings of a damp squib

Google’s cloud-based storage service, Google Drive, is expected to launch in April, according to reports.

This is the first we’ve heard about Google Drive in a while. It’s also the first time we’ve had a relatively decent leak regarding the service’s launch, which is said to be happening in April.

‘I am told the big day is sometime during the first week of April 2012,’ says GigaOM’s Om Malik.

He added: ‘Google is going to offer 1GB of storage space for free, but will charge for more storage […] Interestingly, it will launch for Google Apps customers and will be domain specific as well […] My sources are impressed, so far with what they have seen.’

1GB? That doesn’t sound all that impressive to us if we’re honest. Especially when you bare in mind that the current market leader – that’s Dropbox by the way – offers 2GB of free storage to its users.

There was no mention of how Google plans to implement Drive into its Android platform. But seeing as Apple’s iCloud offers 5GB of free storage – and that’s Apple we’re talking about here – Google will no doubt have to rethink its Drive strategy for mobile.

1GB of free storage is pretty stingy – even more so when compared to Microsoft's SkyDrive proposition.