Whoa! It has been one heck of a week!  Speculations surrounding the Google Drive have finally proved to be real.  Following the rumors that were initially floating around and the developments in recent days, all the major cloud storage providers have gone a step ahead in promoting their services, revamped their sync facilities and features.

Well, now there are too many services out there to attract you. How do you choose the one that suits you best? There are few things you got to consider first. We put forward some facts – clear as a crystal. You decide!

Google Drive

The new kid on the block.  It’s been just few days since the service was officially open to the public and has already attracted lot of customers.  Getting down to the point, Google Drive offers you 5GB of free storage for all who sign up for the service. Henceforth, you shall not see the Google Docs service and instead the Google Drive.  It also comes with a desktop sync client that runs native on both Windows and Mac OS Platforms.  With regard to mobile devices, app has been designed for only the Android devices right now and the ones for iOS are on the way, they say. Linux is yet to see the light on Google’s desktop sync services.

The web interface is just about the same like the Google Docs, with few improvements. They’ve brought in sophisticated image search technologies and sharing features for the users. Google’s move in integrating Drive with Docs, which already has a suite of apps like Text editor, Presentation maker and Spreadsheet calculator could make it a worthy choice to go with.

Pricing plans for those who wish to buy more storage are relatively cheap in comparison with other providers. They offer 9 premium plans in all starting at $2.49 for 25 GB to $799.99 for 16TB all in monthly rentals.

The sync client doesn’t seem to work really well.  It just syncs your local folder with the cloud storage. Lacks all the good sharing features that people would like to do from desktop. App crashes a lot.

Dropbox

Dropbox is a household name everywhere. It has been in business for quite a few years now. Offers 2GB free storage that can go up to 18GB, with a 500 MB increase for each person you refer.  Has a simple and elegant web interface and excellent sharing features. Has native apps for every major platform – Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, iOS and Blackberry.

Its desktop client works hassle free, has ‘from the desktop’ sharing features.  Excellent for collaborative sharing although no live editing is possible.  Dropbox also supports other mediums of sharing with plugins for WordPress and email clients like Postbox. There is also no limit on filesizes and upload. You can’t sync any folder in your computer with the service and all the files will just have to be in one single ‘Dropbox folder’ in someplace that you choose, something in which both Dropbox and Google work alike. Has local area sync as well.

They charge $9.99 for 50GB and $19.99 for 100GB storage and collaborative sharing plans start at 1TB – a little costly though, if you’re looking for personal use in comparison with Google Drive.  Unless Dropbox comes up with something new, they’re sure to fall off the market, even if not right now, atleast very soon.

Skydrive

This is by far the most worthy option in my opinion. It provides 7 GB of free storage for all the new customers and a whopping 25GB of storage for the existing ones.

Very recently, they revamped their desktop sync services to match with their competitors Dropbox and Drive. Windows Live Mesh – an app that was earlier used in syncing Skydrive to desktop has now been replaced with the ‘Skydrive App’ which feels totally refreshing and new. Works well with iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7 and Mac. Linux has again been left behind.  Skydrive’s clients too lack the desktop sharing facilities like in Dropbox.

Their web client is also equipped with online office editor that works just the same way as in desktop version. Interface looks clean and neat. You may also selectively sync any folder from your computer – every file you sync need not be in the same place in your PC. You can manage the devices you want to choose your service to be in sync with – something that’s missing out in all the major services.  You can permit or revoke access at any time.

Skydrive is already coming up with plugins to work well with Outlook and other Windows Live array of apps. If they can promote this by providing API support for third party developers, Skydrive is sure to hit the skies.

Unlike the other services, Skydrive has only annual pricing plans, but very cheap enough to afford, at $10 per year for 20GB and $50 for 100GB –  much cheaper than Google Drive and Dropbox.

Box

God knows why, but corporates prefer Box. Not much of changes though. The usual 5GB of free storage. For personal use, there is no sync client at all.

But, it has got features too good for collaborative purposes – with document features like versions, revisions and comments and virtual data room, content access cum management via mobile devices. Has secure file transfer facility as well. Although, I’ve not used it before, ‘It works well with other platforms’ they say like Google Apps and the like.

It has got an API that developers can use to integrate the service into their products. Something if done by all is bound to give them success.

Downside is that, Box is too pricy. Maximum file size for free and personal use is just 25MB (to 1GB for paid) while it goes upto 2GB for business customers. Prices start at $9.99 for 25GB and $19.99 for 50GB for personal plans and at $15/user/month for businesses.

Too heavy on your pocket, if you’re looking at services for home or personal use.

Ubuntu One

Not many know about this service. But, provides excellent features if you’re for an all-around cloud computing experience.

Free storage is available at a 5GB for all users, provides a great desktop sync for Windows and Linux (Ubuntu only) platforms. ‘Share from desktop’ features are also available. Sync device management is possible. Web client is simple and works sophisticated. Has apps for mobile devices working under iOS and Android platforms.

Unique feature of this service include the music streaming service, where you can stream your music in the cloud across mobile devices and PCs. Although it costs $40 a year, it gives you 20GB of free storage data plus music streaming from across the cloud.  A contact sync feature is also in the pipeline.

Pricing is placed at $2.99/month or $29.99 for a year.

iCloud

The ‘Apple only’ storage service that lets you sync all the documents, contacts, notes, messages and files across all the Mac and iOS devices.

Provides 5GB for free and other plans start at $20 for 10GB, $40 for 20GB and $100 for 50GB. Maximum file size is just 25MB for free users and 250MB if you are a paid user.

Third party developers could use the API for their apps. Features like, Photo streaming, iTunes match and Find my iPhone forces people to go with this one.