New 'Google Drive' offers free online storage for photos, videos

Search giant Google has unveiled a new consumer service that offers up to 16 terabytes for storing photos, videos, and other digital files in the Internet 'cloud.'

Dubbed as 'Google Drive', the service offers 5GB (gigabytes) of storage for free.

The service goes head to head with rival cloud services such as Dropbox and Microsoft's SkyDrive, The BBC reports.

Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Chrome and Apps described the drive 'a central place where one can create, share, collaborate and keep all of their stuff'.

"Whether you're working with a friend on a joint research project, planning a wedding with your fiancé or tracking a budget with roommates, you can do it in Drive," Pichai said in a blog post.

The service will allow users to upload and access videos, photos, Google Docs, PDFs and other documents.

It can be installed to a Mac or PC or as an app to an Android phone or tablet. For blind users, Drive can be accessed with a screen reader.