(Image source: Wired)

BY EVAN THOMAS

Remember when the G drive was on your local hard disk? No longer — Google’s working on a G Drive of its own.

The Wall Street Journal reports Google is rolling out a cloud storage system for all kinds of digital files.
Called — Drive — it will be a simple online storage locker like Dropbox, rather than the targeted data services Google already offers for documents and music.

If it seems a little redundant, TheNextWeb points out, Google will be able to add functionality to Drive that Dropbox can’t match.

“What Docs does that Dropbox doesn't is allow users to create and edit certain kinds of files. If you use Google Docs as your cloud document service, you're probably using it to make and work on documents, too. That's more than Dropbox can offer, standing on its own.”

But PCWorld says an entirely new product doesn’t jive with Google’s current direction.

“So if Google is already offering online storage for virtually anything you have stored on your PC, what could this rumored "Drive" offer that is new? Will Google simply duplicate offerings it's already built? Possibly, but given CEO Larry Page's recent focus on integrating Google's services, that seems unlikely.”

But Wall Street Journal editor Drew Dowell says it does make sense — Google is aiming for more relevance.

“They’re unquestionably the king of search, that’s why you go to the site. But if all your friends are on Facebook, and all your media content is on Dropbox, at a certain point they’re going to have trouble commanding as much of your attention, and they’re trying to head that off now.”

Whatever Google’s plan is for Drive, you can bet it’ll be cloud based. And IntoMobile says — if anyone can handle cloud business, it’s Google.

“This is something Google can excel in because the company is well-seasoned when it has to do with running cloud services. Just think, products like GMail and GDocs work almost flawlessly in the cloud. In fact, you can argue that no one does cloud better than Google at this point.”

Ars Technica laments — If only Google had flexed its cloud muscle four years ago, when it could have locked down the market.

“Drive could have been pretty revolutionary, especially if it had launched back in 2007 when the Journal also said it was ready to be unveiled within a few months. Now, Google will have to compete against Dropbox and other well-established storage services.”

GigaOM agrees — Google should have known better than to wait.

“How is it that Google, with its vast army of smart people and billions of dollars, couldn’t build a cloud storage drive over past five years? ...how can a company that is intimate with the concept of cloud and owns Android, the mobile computing platform, not be able to understand the strategic importance of an ‘online storage drive’?”

The Wall Street Journal says Drive could launch in a matter of weeks — but so far, Google hasn’t said anything on the matter.