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The cloud storage and collaboration space is more competitive than ever before. Google recently rolled out its new cloud-based document and storage solution and faces competition not just from cloud companies such as Box and Dropbox, but from Apple, Microsoft and Amazon as well. Here’s a brief comparison of the big players:

Amazon Cloud Drive: 

• Storage: 5GB free (purchases from the Amazon MP3 Store don’t count towards storage limit)
• Mobile Integration: Cloud Player for Android, no official iOS app
• Desktop Integration: Amazon MP3 Uploader/Downloader for music
• Pricing: $1 a gigabyte per year
• Collaborative Editing: No
• File Size Limitations: 2GB

iCloud:

• Storage: 5GB free, 20GB is $40 a year, 50GB is $100 a year
• Mobile Integration: Built into iOS 5
• Desktop Integration: Mac OS X 10.7.x and Windows 7
• Pricing: $40/$100 a year
• Collaborative Editing: No
• File Size Limitations: No

Box:

• Storage: 5GB free, up to 50GB for personal accounts, 1TB for business and unlimited for eneterprise
• Mobile Integration: iOS, Android, and BlackBerry
• Desktop Integration: Mac, Windows, web
• Pricing: Personal accounts start at $9.99 a month for 25GB, business plans start at $15 a month (at least 3 users required)
• Collaborative Editing: Yes, more robust editing for business accounts
• File Size Limitations: 25MB – 100MB for free accounts, up to 2GB for business accounts, up to 2GB for business accounts

Dropbox:

• Storage: 2GB free and 500MB per referral, paid plans up to 100GB
• Mobile Integration: Android, iOS, BlackBerry
• Desktop Integration: Windows, Mac, Linux, web
• Pricing: $100 a year for 50GB, $200 a year for 100GB
• Collaborative Editing: No, but many cloud document services integrate with Dropbox
• File Size Limitations: None for desktop, 300MB for web uploads

Microsoft SkyDrive:

• Storage: 7GB free (25GB for users who signed up before April 22, 2012), Up to 100GB
• Mobile Integration: Official apps for Windows Phone 7 and iOS, unofficial Android apps, mobile web access
• Desktop Integration: Windows, Mac and web
• Pricing: Additional storage available for $0.50 a gigabyte, 100GB of additional storage is $50 a year.
• Collaborative Editing: Yes, with Office Live Web Apps
• File Size Limitations: 2GB (300 megabytes for web uploads)

Google Drive:

• Storage: 5GB free, up to 16TB
• Mobile Integration: Android, iOS (coming soon)
• Desktop Integration: Windows, Mac, web
• Pricing: $30 a year for 25GB, $60 a year for $100GB
• Collaborative Editing: Yes with Google Docs
• File Size Limitations: 10GB

…how people work.”

according to chris caposella (senior vice president of microsoft’s information worker product management group): “…we developed our new office products in response to a shift in how people and businesses use technology today. the line between home and work has blurred, so people want more choice and flexibility in how, where and when they work. they’re also demanding the ability to access and effectively manage their information whether at home, at work or on the go. IT professionals, in particular, are challenged to deliver business value to their companies while continuing to decrease their costs…” read full interview on microsoft’s press pass.

…let’s wait and see

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