Google 2007 Predictions - Part I
Google December 27th, 2006 - By Haochi
Google Drive: It’s been rumoring not long after the debut of Gmail, and confirmed by Google on this year’s Analyst Day in April. Then we learned that the codename of it is Platypus, soon after, Philipp got a grip on the application itself, however, he wasn’t able to access it, as it is only for Googler. I feel confident that Google will introduce GDrive to the public sometime in 2007. Possibility: 65%
Google Office: Well, it’s pretty much here. Just need to have some integration and a web -app for slideshows. Integrate Google Notebook, Google Calendar, Blogger, Gmail, Page Creator, Picasa Web, Google Reader with Google Docs, and add GSlideshow seems to be pretty good for 2007. An offline version and PDA would come in really handy. Possibility: 90%
Google Phone: I guess this one started when Eric Schmidt said, “Your mobile phone should be free,” Then a couple weeks later, Google started creating Google Phones with Orange, the mobile phone operator. What should we expect? Depending on whether it is Google-brand or Orange-brand, it would be a huge difference. (though calling it Google Phone, we don’t know a lot information) Let’s be optimistic then - the Google Phone will be Sidekick-like, have all the current Google mobile softwares and Firefox-lite installed, GPS-enabled, and everything within and beyond your imagination. :) Possibility: 75%
related new: Google VP Speaks of Plans for the Coming Year
note: possibilities are ±30%.
December 27th, 2006 at 12:53 pm
Didn’t Google say something to their investors a while ago about a Google Drive? I’d say the possibility of a Google Drive is higher than 65%, if Google confirmed it (Google once denied Google Calendar, so if they confirm it…)
December 27th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
The possibility is 65% is because it’s unlikely that Google will launch the service in ‘07. Probably in 2008. Well, who knows.
December 27th, 2006 at 7:33 pm
I like your percentages, Haochi. :-) How are you defining Google Drive? If I were defining it as free online storage with a capacity greater than capacities at AOL (5G) and MSN (0 for the moment) I’d say there’s a 99% chance of launch in ‘07 that’s a free service and substantially bigger than its competitors. I wouldn’t mind seeing, say a terrabyte offered on April 1, and then April 2 see a counter in place like they did with gMail. That would be too cool for school.
Let’s pray for world peace and something simple like a better Google address book to sync with PDA’s.
Pax.
December 27th, 2006 at 7:43 pm
Yes, I would define it as an online storage as well, rather than file sharing, I think it would be more like a backup system, like the Mozy model. :) A terabyte would be possible, I would say, since Google is offering 250GB photo storage for Picasa Web Albums, although that costs a lot. Maybe Google will do the same for GDrive - have free, and a few upgradeable options. We will see in the year 2007. :)