Google’s Drive cloud storage offering “might” finally arrive next week

Google’s long-awaited Drive cloud storage service might finally arrive during the first week of April, according to a thinly sourced GigaOM report.

In early February, we heard that Google would soon launch a cloud storage service similar to Dropbox, Box, Microsoft’s SkyDrive, and Amazon CloudDrive. Drive’s offerings will most closely resemble Dropbox, which gives users access to cloud-connected storage on smartphones, tablets, Macs, and PCs.

A Google spokesperson gave us the usual statement in regards to the report: “We do not comment on rumors or speculation.”

Even with the GigaOM story on hand, the timing of the release could be off slightly. Founder and senior writer Om Malik felt the need to bold the word “might” twice in his piece to shield himself from his “well placed” anonymous sources being wrong.

A screenshot of Drive leaked out in mid-February and not surprisingly, the service looks almost exactly the same as Google Docs. The screenshot included an option to “Install Google Drive,” which is likely a way to integrate the service alongside normal desktop folders.

Drive has a long history with Google even though it never launched. In 2007, now-CEO Larry Page had worked internally with other Googlers on a service called “G Drive,” but it was postponed indefinitely. During that same year, Dropbox was founded and has gone on to become one of the most widely used cloud-storage solutions with consumers, mostly because of its availability and ease of use across multiple platforms.