Google Apps opens up extra storage, for a fee

Google has launched a new service which allows Google Apps users to buy extra storage space for Docs, Picasa Web Albums and photos from Blogger, the company said on Tuesday.

The ability to buy extra storage for Apps accounts is an extension of the User Managed Storage option that personal Google Account holders have been able to take advantage of in order to provide extra capacity.

The User Managed Storage service for Google Apps accounts can be enabled or disabled by the domain administrator, after which the end user can purchase additional storage using their Google Checkout account.

Pricing for User Managed Storage is set at the same level as personal Google accounts, ranging from 20GB for $5 (£3.06) to 1TB for $256, per year.

However, Google notes that additional storage cannot be pooled or transferred to another Apps account and cannot be used for Gmail storage.

On 25 February, Google released the Office Cloud Connect plug-in which allows Microsoft Office users to sync Word and other documents with Google Docs. It also allows for collaborative working on documents without needing to leave the Office interface, Google said.