Google Unveils Drive for Work With Unlimited Storage and New Editing Tools

Google besides announcing various expansion fronts for Android at I/O 2014, from a new hardware and software platform for low-cost phones, to an in-car interface for Android, also introduced its new Drive for Work service.

Designed for enterprise, the Drive for Work service comes with an unlimited storage option for a minimal $10 per month per user, along with improved file sharing and editing between groups. Sundar Pichai, the Google's SVP of Android, Chrome and Apps, said at the keynote event that users will be able to upload files with a maximum size of 5TB.

Pichai also mentioned that Google will be giving away a set of APIs to let administrators keep a track of how their employees are using the service. Google's blog post states that Drive for Work houses "new admin controls, advanced file audit reporting and eDiscovery services." It further detailed that with the new audit view, admins can "see activity like moving, deleting or sharing a file within or outside the company."

Also, the newly introduced 'suggested edits' feature offers better collaborative edit options. Putting its QuickOffice acquisition to good use, Google has now also given the option for natively editing Microsoft Office files in the Docs, Sheets and Slides applications, without first converting the document to a Google Drive one. Any changes made will be saved directly to the Microsoft Office document. The feature would soon reach iOS users also.

Google also said that starting Wednesday, it has also added more security to all the files uploaded on Google Drive, by making them encrypted across all the servers.

Pichai also boasted that Google now has 190 million 30-day active users and 58 percent of the Fortune 500 companies have "gone Google". The Drive for Work service is globally available starting Wednesday.

It is worth noting that Google updated its Google Drive app for Android users to version 1.3.222.29, bringing numerous bug fixes, performance improvements, and UI tweaks last week. The update, along with the bug fixes and performance improvements, also introduced a new floating shortcut bar at the bottom of the screen with Upload, Create and Scan options.