Amazon Cloud Drive Makes UK Debut

Amazon Cloud Drive, the online retailer’s cloud storage service, has been released in the UK, more than one year after it launched in the US.

The service lets users store photos, documents, videos and other files in the cloud, with 5GB of free storage provided on sign-up.

A Cloud Drive application for Mac and Windows has also been released and lets users manage files directly from their desktops, similar to its rivals.

Amazon Cloud Drive

Storage capacities can be increased if the free allowance is deemed to be insufficient. Upgrades begin at £6 a month for an additional 20GB and up to £320 a year for the maximum 1TB. Amazon promised users’ files will be kept securely on its servers.

Cloud Drive will compete against Microsoft’s SkyDrive offering, which recently enjoyed a major upgrade. The company released improved mobile, Mac and PC apps as well as an improved web interface in preparation of the releases of Windows 8, Microsoft Office 2013 and Outlook.com

It will also compete with Google’s similarly titled Google Drive service, which stores up to 30 different file types. It also offers 5GB of free storage and close integration with Google applications. Another rival is Dropbox, which has introduced collaboration features and just yesterday announced two-factor authentication for its users following a spam scare last month.

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