"GDrive" on the Way?

By Nick Mokey November 26, 2007

"GDrive" on the Way?

The days of e-mailing files to yourself to access them from anywhere could soon be over when Google finally releases its online storage application, which could allow users to do more easily what Gmail users have already been doing for years – use Google as a hard drive. An article in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal indicates that such a service could be only months away.

While many other companies, including competitor Microsoft, have already launched online data storage solutions, Google has lagged behind, possibly adding its signature touch to the feature. According to the Journal, Google will approach storage differently by integrating access directly into Windows, making a Google account just like another hard drive from the desktop.

Other details of the project, including what it will be called upon release and how much, if anything, it will cost, remain hazy. Internal documents have referred to it both as “My Stuff” and “GDrive,” and additional Gmail and Picasa storage ranges from $20 a year for an extra 10GB, to $500 for 400GB.

Upon release, the storage project will almost certainly integrate with Google’s other Web 2.0 apps, including Gmail, Google Documents and Picasa.

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Smart Home

5 creative ways to repurpose your old and unused tech

An old iPad being used as a picture frame.

As you load up on new gear, you may be hesitant to toss out all your old stuff. If those devices are still perfectly functional, it seems like a waste, right? Who knows, maybe you'll need them someday. So what do you do with the collection of antiques? Let the pile grow bigger? Build a little museum? Kick the gadgets to the curb, and let their toxic components leach into whatever soil or water supplies? Let's see if we can find your old electronics a second life instead.
Use an old tablet or laptop as a second monitor

Old monitors can help you double up your viewing area (if not your productivity). You can get other devices to do the same thing, too. Depending on the model and software availability, old tablets and laptops can act as second monitors for your main PC. I've used Duet in the past, and if you're using a Mac, it's even easier with the native Sidecar function. Android devices can enjoy similar solutions like SuperDisplay, which lends itself to folks looking for a graphics tablet with full stylus pressure sensitivity.
Help scientists explore outer space and cure cancer
If you have an old device that still has a working CPU, you can effectively lend that unused computing power to researchers by hooking up to a distributed computing network. Through these systems, millions of linked devices can work together as a giant supercomputer to help solve some of the world's biggest computing problems. Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing is at the forefront of this technology, allowing your connected phones and PCs to quietly work on medical, cosmological, biological, and mathematical projects. All you need to do is have your device turned on and connected to the internet, then run a small the app in the background.
Turn an old PC into a dedicated media server
If family photos and videos are taking up too much room on your primary computer, it's easy to make a second PC a new home for your content. Once the drive is on your network, you can access it anywhere in your home, and even remotely with a bit of finagling. Plug it into your TV and use Plex to upcycle your old PC into an honest-to-goodness media server. Old gaming consoles can fill a similar role, allowing you to not only store old content, but to organize, search, and play all your media as well
Transform an old tablet into a dynamic picture frame

Smart Home

Wyze Gun Safe is a Bluetooth-enabled way to protect firearms

An open Wyze Gun Safe with a hand gun, passport, and other items inside.

Wyze is a company known for creating budget security cameras and other smart home and health accessories. However, it seems the company wants to jump into another space: Gun safety equipment. To that end, Wyze has just announced the Bluetooth-enabled Wyze Gun Safe.

Wyze hopes to keep families safe by introducing its own lockbox for your sidearm. The safe is a small, metal locking box with space for about one standard handgun and its accessories. The safe has 195 cubic inches of interior space, so it's ideal for storing important documents like your passport, or even jewelry.

Smart Home

Sorry, there’s no new HomePod on the way

Customers inspect the new Apple HomePod at an Apple Store on February 9, 2018 in San Francisco, California.

Today's Apple event had the rumor mills filing for extra overtime pay in hope that a new HomePod or HomePod Mini would be announced, but HomeKit users once again find themselves out in the cold. Although Apple announced quite a bit of information about upcoming products, no mention was made of its smart home presence.

The original HomePod was discontinued last year around this time, with the idea that Apple would focus all of its future efforts on the HomePod Mini. The latest announcement Apple has made regarding the Mini is the launch of new colors -- yellow, orange, and blue -- but even that was in November of last year. Since then, there's been no news.