Unlimited Online Storage by Livedrive

UK-based Livedrive Internet Ltd. has announced the launch of its new online storage service. Livedrive allows customers to store all their files – including office documents, photos, videos and any other type of file online instead of on their computer’s hard disk.

Andrew Michael, CEO, commented: "60% of people now have more than one computer. With a growing number of people having more than one device – such as a desktop computer, a netbook and PDA – it no longer makes sense to store files individually on each device. People want all their files together in one place that is accessible from any device."

Online storage is an industry forecast to grow 500% by 2012 (source: Gartner). Livedrive acquired over 1 million users during the public beta programme and offers many benefits over traditional storage:

• Access files from anywhere, on any device – no more e-mailing files to yourself or using USB sticks;
• Data is stored in carrier grade data centres and backup up – if you lose your computer you don’t lose your files;
• Work online – Livedrive provides a web portal where users can open, view and edit most common files, including Microsoft Office documents, from any computer with an Internet connection; and
• Unlimited storage – Livedrive is the only company offering unlimited storage, meaning customers will never run out of space.

Unlike other online storage providers, which are purely web-based, Livedrive offers customers a unique software application that can be installed on any computer, allowing them to access their Livedrive storage as a normal drive – just like a USB stick or external hard drive.

Andrew Michael commented: "If people are going to use online storage, they need to be able to view their files, create files and save files on their computer, just like they do with their normal hard drive. We are first to market with a working service that allows people to do this. Our customers get an ‘L:’ drive where they can access all their online files directly. Google have been rumoured to be working on a product called Gdrive for years that does this – our product is available today."

Livedrive has been over two years in development. Andrew Michael, CEO and founder, previously owned Fasthosts Internet Limited, which became the UK’s leading web-hosting company and was sold to United Internet in 2006 for $120m.

Andrew Michael commented: "We’ve put all our energy and significant resources behind building a best-in-class product. I believe online storage is an emerging market and we are going to see a lot more interest in people storing online over the next few years, driven by the availability of multiple low cost devices and fast broadband connections. Livedrive aims to be at the forefront of this movement."

Livedrive offers unlimited storage for $129.95 a year and also has a started account which is limited to 100GB for $55.95 a year.