There have been rumors about Google Drive - Google’s cloud storage service. Today, Google has finally unveiled Google Drive. It stores your files on the cloud and syncs them across all your devices. Windows, Mac and Android apps have been released and the iOS app is due in a few weeks. Google Drive offers 5GB of space for free and charges for additional storage. Google Docs have now been merged into the new Google Drive, so all your docs are in the Drive and the Google Docs editor has been embedded into the Drive web application.

So how is Google Drive different from Dropbox, SugarSync, Microsoft SkyDrive and ZumoDrive? If is comes to storing files in the cloud and keeping them in sync across all your devices, then its no different. The big difference with Google Drive is that it allows editing Google Docs files which itself is a major product. Other than that, nothing more there. If you are looking for cloud storage, here is a list of current free capacity offered by providers: Dropbox (2GB), SugarSync (5GB), SkyDrive (25GB - Limited time), ZumoDrive (2GB). Although these numbers are likely to go up in order to compete with Google Drive.

Want to get started with Google Drive? Here is the link.

Video of Google Drive:

Click on “Continue reading” to watch the video in action.

All Android devices running version 2.2 and up should see their Android Market updated to the new Google Play soon. Google has also announced a “7 Days to Play” sale in Google Play. There are also 25¢ App of the day and 49¢ Apps section in Google Play.

Visit Google Play now!

Dyyno: Have you cut the cable yet? Dyyno makes video streaming apps that allow you to watch live content on your tablet and TV. They support Roku and third party Android-based boxes. Dyyno partners with content providers and makes apps which stream live content. Once most major networks head to this direction, cable would start fading away.

Memorette: A Korean storage device producer that makes USB drives and memory cards. The USB drives are really well designed and are pretty compact. The read/write speeds are supposed to be at par with the competition but I have not tested them out myself. Again, good product design.

Innochips Technology: A Korean company that has finally done remotes right. A small physical remote that connects via bluetooth to computers and tablets, has a small QWERTY keyboard on one side and main keys on the other side. Popular devices such as the Google TV come with massive full-sized keyboards which are not suitable for TVs. A solution like this allows normal control using the small remote and have a keyboard on the other side for text entry.

Iowne: A Chinese company that designs cases for tablets. This Chinese company has done real research in design. They have gotten inspired from Apple’s smart covers for the iPad 2 and have made similar magnetic cases for tablets that are like an envelope but can be made into a cone using magnets inside, and then used as a stand.

I’m watch: We have Android phones, Android tablets, what’s next? Android watches! This Italian creator has made a small iPod nano sized watch with a touch screen and Android OS. It connects to a smartphone via Bluetooth and enables access to Phone, Messages, Mail, Contacts and Media. It has 4 Gigs of internal storage out of which about 2 Gigs is used by the system and the rest is for media. The watch can also be used as a storage drive using the USB cable provided with the watch.

Square Trees: iPad is popularly known as a mobile gaming device but lacks physical keys. Square Trees bridges the gap by making transparent rubber squares that stick to the screen to provide a physical button experience to gamers.

Scrible: Do you read webpages and want to highlight text and make notes on them? Scrible is a web app that lets you do just that and save your work into their cloud account. Now they even support the iPad.

SurfEasy: If you use public computers all the time for surfing and want privacy, SurfEasy’s USB drive lets you surf using their own web browser which saves your bookmarks, has your browsing history and keeps all of the on the USB drive so none of the information stays on the public computer.

That concludes CES 2012. It was great exploring new technologies showcased at CES. Subscribe to the blog via RSS or follow me on twitter to stay connected.

Zinwell: Zinwell makes a lot of different electronic components. Their new wireless HDMI solution looked promising. The system has two parts: a USB drive that goes into the computer and a receiver that hooks up to the TV via HDMI and takes in power. The device has a nice compact design and the video playback at the booth seemed pretty smooth.

Dynamics: This is the future of credit cards! Dynamics makes electronic credit cards that let you store multiple card information in one card and press buttons to activate that account on the card. The magnetic strip is written when the button is pressed to select an account. They have also made a version that lets you select between Cash and Rewards for cards that allow payments using rewards.

Marvell: Marvell is making the next-gen Google TVs. They showcased Google TVs on their booth and are going to be releasing new set top boxes with Google TV.

Nvidia: Nvidia showcased a lot on their booth. Two of the main were their Tegra 3 processor for tablets and their graphics cards. They had several ASUS Transformer Prime tablets with keyboard docks on the booth which run their latest Tegra 3 quad-core processor.

Besides these booths, I saw some other booths in the area and had discussions with some of the people. The rest would be covered tomorrow.

Next EDGE technology: A Japanese company that makes face and hand detection software. It works with any webcam. The software uses an algorithm to detect faces and hands and can be used for controlling devices. A nice demo of the technology was presented at the booth.

P2i: A great advancement in fluid nanotechnology. P2i does coatings on electrical components which makes it water repellant, essentially preventing corrosion. The booth had paper napkins with the coating and the napkins where dry and stiff even after submerging them in the water. The non-coated napkins on the other hand absorbed the water and became soggy. Again, very cool stuff.

ArcSoft: ArcSoft has developed a new ArcSync service which allows files to be synced across devices. They have also developed a set of Android applications which will use this service. Lenovo is believed to ship their tablets loaded with these applications.

Opera: Opera is moving with the times. They have some really awesome TV interface which lets you install apps to your TV through their marketplace. It also has the web browser in the system and allows surfing on the big screen. Some major manufacturers are expected to use this in the upcoming television models.

Blackberry: Playbook, Playbook, Playbook! Blackberry’s Playbook tablet was the center of attention. The booth was filled with demo units and there were a lot of people from Blackberry showcasing the new OS 2 for the tablet.

Qualcomm: The best booth at CES! The snapdragon s4 processor is going to be released soon, which was displayed at the booth. There were some really fascinating augmented reality demos as well as impressive face detection demos at the booth.

Lenovo: Lenovo showcased their ultrabooks at the booth. Ultrabooks are the focus at CES this year with impressive models from ASUS, Samsung and Lenovo. There were also a lot of different phones and tablets showcased at the booth. The phones are released in Mainland China and will release in the US soon. The tablets are set to release during Q2 of 2012.

Besides these booths, I also checked out some other booths such as Skype and a few more. I will be covering more tomorrow.

Here are the exhibits I visited and some summary about them:

HyperDrive - I saw the CloudFTP device at the booth. It allows you to hookup USB storage and access the files over the internet. Much information about how it tackles the firewall, handles dynamic IP addresses, etc. was not available.

DollyDrive - This is TimeMachine backups on the cloud. It allows you to backup your Mac to the cloud, access files online and via the iPhone app. I still have to sign up and checkout the service for myself.

GoPano EyeSee360 - A really cool photography accessory for the iPhone. It attaches itself to the iPhone case and has mirrors inside. The app lets you take a picture or record video and you can move it around on the computer to see the panoramic views or see the image or video from different perspectives. I learnt the technical aspect of this but don’t want to spoil the secret.

TeleNav Scout - Scout is a personal assistant from TeleNav. It gives you directions to the place you want to go and also lets you discover points of interests around you. This syncs across your computer, your phone and the in-car unit. The API will let developers use Scout services in their own apps.

BlueGiga - BlueGiga makes bluetooth components (chips) and sells them. These can be attached to a PCB and used for bluetooth connectivity. It is for hardware enthusiasts working on projects that need bluetooth connectivity.

Sony (NFC) - Sony makes NFC chips and sells them. These can be wired up with a circuit for NFC capabilities. It is for hardware enthusiasts working on projects that need NFC. This is based in Sony Japan but there are retail contacts in California.

Samsung - Transparent LCD Displays! Samsung just demoed transparent LCD displays that that touch capabilities using infrared. This has a lot of interesting applications. It will be the windshield of future cars. This is based in Samsung Korea.

PeoplePower - A simple answer to home automation. PeoplePower sells power adapters that let you plug anything in the power socket and control it via the iPhone app. So if you have bedroom lights plugged into the adapter, then you can use the app to turn on lights and switch them off. This can be used around the house to control different appliances. Though a gateway needs to be installed that manages these power adapters and talks to the WiFi network. PeoplePower makes the software for these adapters.

TransferJet - This is the future of file transfer. A chip similar to NFC that allows fast data transfer between two devices. It is designed to transfer large files such as pictures or videos. Many manufacturers such as Toshiba, Sony and Samsung will use this in their future products.

Motorola - Motorola had a massive display focused for consumers. I played with their phones and tablets and spoke to some of the employees. It was a pretty attractive setup.

Besides these, there are many more booths that I visited, including Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Nikon and Polaroid. These just showcased the latest line of products and were all consumer focused.

Happy New Year to all. 2011 was another year of technological advancements. There were many breakthroughs in science as well as new trends in consumer electronics. The tablet market grew astonishingly with the iPad still dominating the scene. With smartphones, tablets and the new category of ultrabooks, we are moving towards the era of portability.

I will be attending CES 2012 this year and will post updates on Twitter, so be sure to follow me @JashSayani

Quantum computers harness the power of atoms and molecules to perform tasks. This gives the ability to process information much faster compared to our current silicon chip based computers. Quantum computers have been under development for quite some time but we soon might see quantum computers produced for consumer needs. University of Bristol’s Center for Quantum Photonics has developed a photonic chip that paves the way to programmable quantum processors. What does this mean? It just means we are getting closer to the future of computing.

Press Release: University of Bristol

There are other creative ideas as well. These can be incorporated with today’s technology. For example, the person in Hong Kong sees a video that asks for help and as he raises his phone to the screen, he sees donation amounts on the device. He then selects and amount and the payment is done. Apps for today’s smartphones can be made to capture images and quickly match it up with a database of donations. Though this would need a massive database and extremely fast image processing, it is still possible to have this technology.

That being said, watch the video for yourself. Its after the break.