Google has launched a new cloud based storage service, called Google Drive, offering online storage space for photos, videos, files and more.

Taking on established cloud based services such as Dropbox and Microsoft's SkyDrive, the Google Drive service provides users with 5GB of online storage, for free, with a sliding scale of charges for those that require more storage.

The service aims to offer as seamless a way as possible for users to access and use their content, wherever they are. As well as access for PC and MAC users there is also, unsurprisingly, a Google Drive app for your Android mobile.

Google will be tying their Google Docs service into Google Drive, allowing real time collaboration on documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Once completed, the content can be easily shared with others, with comments included for people to give feedback.

Being Google, the Google Drive service comes with a powerful search tool, allowing you to seek for keywords in stored documents, and filter the search results by author, type, and so on.

OCR Technology is supported, allowing users to scan in documents, such as newspaper clippings, which can be searched, stored and shared online. Google Drive lets you attach photos to posts on Google+, and shortly Google hope to allow direct attachment of Google Drive content to emails sent from Gmail.

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The first 5GB of storage on Google Drive is free – if you need more space, you can upgrade to 25GB storage for just $2.49 a month, 100GB for $4.99 a month, or 1TB for $49.99 a month.

To get started with Google Drive, or sign up for notifications when the service becomes available in your area, head to drive.google.com/start. The Google Drive Android app can be downloaded from the Google Play Store.

Google has pushed out a minor update to Google Chrome for Android, the beta web browser available for Ice Cream Sandwich enabled devices.

The browser now supports an updated range of languages, and includes a 'view desktop' option, which lets you view a site as it appears when accessed via the desktop version of Chrome. This comes in useful when the site you are trying to view doesn't show well on your mobile.

It is possible to add Chrome shortcuts directly to your Android standby screen, giving one-tap access to your favourite and most frequently visited websites.

In addition, Chrome has been tweaked to recognise more apps that can support your viewing, allowing you to easily jump from the browser directly to the app for further interaction.

Google have also added a feature to Chrome for Android that lets you use Chrome via a proxy WiFi setup.

Chrome for Android is only available for handsets running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which is not many at the moment, although more manufacturers are making ICS available for their devices.

If you have a device that is running Android 4.0, you can download Google Chrome for Android from the Google Play Store.

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Google has signed a deal with major film studio MGM, the result of which will see upwards of 600 titles being released for rental via the Google Play Store and YouTube.

The films can be viewed by PC, or smartphone, and even some Smart TV's, will include leading titles such as Robocop, Terminator and Rocky.

Initially the movies will be available to users in the US and Canada, although once distribution rights are sorted, it is expected they will be made available in more markets.

Further MGM titles will be added in the coming months.

MGM join five other major studios in providing films for YouTube and the Google Play Store, alongside Paramount, Universal, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. and Disney, in addition to 10 independent movie studios.

A recent study online Movie streaming is set to double this year, becoming the major way people view films at home. The number of films viewed via streaming will be more than those watched on DVD, VHA and Blu-ray combined.

The cost of renting movies averages between £2.49 to £3.49. To check out the range of content currently available, click the link to the Google Play Store.

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Google have updated their Google Search for Android app, bringing a better search experience to users of Android handsets running older versions of the operating system.

The new look Search has a cleaner UI, which helps deliver a faster, smoother performance when searching the web on your phone. Additionally, the updated app also includes:

- Suggestions for your search grouped by type, with web suggestions at the top
- Country specific suggestions and search results for all countries that have their own Google domain
- Long press to remove history items.

The update is available for Android handsets running Android OS 2.2, 2.3 or 3.x, which is going to be the large majority of devices. The updated app is available to download now from the Android Market, or by scanning the QR Code below:

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Rumours are abound that Apple and Google may enter into the bidding for Premier League TV rights, when the contract goes out to tender before the end of the season.

The Daily Mail report that Apple could see the Premiership as a key element in establishing the Apple TV service in the UK.

Additionally, Google are also reported to be interested in bidding for Premiership rights, which could be offered via their YouTube platform. The increased competition for the rights to Premier League matches will be welcomed by the sports governing body, coming at a time where many sports are seeing reduced income from TV rights.

It may end up that Google and/or Apple team up with existing majority Premiership provider BSkyB, or possibly ESPN, who are expected to go for more Premier League games. Al Jazeera are also expected to enter into the bidding for the rights, having recently secured the French rights to live Champions League football from next season.

In America, Apple has agreements in place with the NHL, MLB and NBA; adding Premiership football rights in the UK would be a major coup. Currently, viewers can view football matches from Sky on the Apple iPhone and iPad via the Sky Go app, whilst goals and highlights from games can be seen with the ESPN Goals app.

The rights to Premier League games won't be cheap, with Sky having paid £1.6 billion for rights, back in 2009. The package that ESPN has was originally awarded to Setanta Sports, which was picked up by ESPN for around £90m when Setanta Sports went into administration.

It seems that Google has not forgotten about owners of the previous Android flagship phone, the Nexus S, with many Google employees commenting via various social media platforms that they are testing Ice Cream Sandwich on the device.

Ice Cream Sandwich, the codename for Android OS 4.0, was first seen on the newest Google Android phone, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. At the time of launch Google had suggested that ICS would become available for the Nexus S, and now it seems that the release is imminent, subject to successful testing.

The lack of a coherent upgrading system for newer versions of Android has often been cited as a source of frustration for many owners of Android devices, with multiple versions of the operating system in use at any one time. This can also cause issues for developers, who need to ensure apps they release through the Android Market are compatible with a wide range of OS versions.

Many manufacturers have already stated their intention to bring Ice Cream Sandwich to their handsets, including LG, Sony Ericsson, HTC and Samsung. One way in which owners of the Nexus S will benefit is a lack of operator modifications in terms of UI layers, which should mean once the update is ready to rollout it should hit all Nexus S handsets within a few days of release.

The Galaxy Nexus S is available on various networks, with contract deals starting from just £25.53 a month. For the latest offers, see our Nexus S deals page. If you want to try Android 4.0 now, the only device currently on market with that OS version is the Galaxy Nexus. The Galaxy Nexus is available from £24.38; for the latest offers, see the Samsung Galaxy Nexus deals page.

The software bug on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus that caused some users to experience complete loss of volume has been well documented, and now Google has confirmed that the software fixed is currently being rolled out.

In a statement, Google said: “We are currently rolling out a fix for the volume issue which will reach everyone in the coming week.” The update will be sent out Over The Air, and users will be notified on their handset when it is available to download. However, you can perform a manual check by going to the settings menu on your phone, selecting About Phone > System Updates > Check Now.

The problem was experienced by some users when transferring data on a 2G connection, and it would result in the volume of the phone being lowered completely, affecting all outgoing audio. That meant no volume for music, incoming call, text and email alerts, and incoming audio on phone calls.

The update is fairly small in size, so should download fairly quickly, and it is advisable for all users to download the update, even if their phone hasn't suffered the volume problem.

To check the latest offers for Galaxy Nexus, head on over to our Samsung Galaxy Nexus deals page

Google has responded to reports of a volume bug being found on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and has announced that a fix will be issued shortly to affected users.

The volume bug has been reported by many users on forums and social networks, effects all audio on the handset. The volume on the phone will decrease for no apparent reason, meaning incoming call alerts, text and email alerts and incoming voice calls cannot be heard on the phone.

Once the volume has gone to zero, it cannot be raised up again with the volume rocker key, rendering the phone almost useless for anything other than a spot of web browsing. The issue is supposed to be caused by an issue with the 2G network, although this isn't confirmed.

Owners of the Galaxy Nexus should be receiving an alert in the next few days, prompting them to download and update the software on the phone. It is advisable for all owners of the Galaxy Nexus to download the update when prompted, even if the volume bug has not occurred on a particular device.

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the first Android device to be launched running the latest version of the Android operating system, Ice Cream Sandwich. Despite the volume bug, which has affected only a small number of users to date, the handset has been receiving favourable reviews since its release.

For the latest offers on this device, head on over to our Galaxy Nexus Deals page.

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is creating headlines following its release, unfortunately not all of them positive. It seems there is a bug on some devices that causes all audio volume to drop, meaning users miss calls, incoming text and can not hear callers when on call.

The problem happens of its own accord, and appears to be related to the device connecting to 2G networks. The volume on the handset will drop, no matter what process is being used on the phone at the time, even if on a call.

After the volume has gone down to zero, the volume button becomes unresponsive, so it is not possible to raise the volume back up to normal levels. The problem will effect all audio output on the device, effectively placing the handset into permanent silent mode.

Many forums have users who have purchased the device complaining about the problem. It is thought Samsung and Google are working on a fix, which will be rolled out as soon as possible.

If you have picked up a Galaxy Nexus in the last few days, and you have experienced the bug with the volume, let us know via the comments.

Google has announced that its Google Music service is now fully operational, and available to all to use. As long as you live in the US, that is.

The service has lost its beta tag, and invite only status, and gives users an easy to use way of managing their large music libraries on the go.

Subscribers can upload up to 20,000 of their own songs to Google Music, which can then be streamed to a compatible device, and Google are also selling songs that can be added to a user's collection of tunes.

Music tracks are purchased through the Android Market, alongside the books, movies and TV shows that Google have made available for a while now. Google states that it is able to distribute over 13 million tracks from a huge number of independent music labels, and also has agreements in place with major labels, too.

Currently, around 8 million of those tracks are available, with the remainder to be added in the coming months. Google will be offering a large number of music tracks for free, and will feature artists each week, running special promotions, and adding a new track each day, for free.

Google has enabled sharing features within its Google Music service, which lets users share tracks via Google+, or via email.

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To sign up to the service, head on over to music.google.com, and then download the Google Music app from the Android Market. Non Android users can still enjoy Google Music from the web interface, whilst for iPhone owners Google have a HTML5 webapp that formats the web service for viewing on an iOS device running iOS 4 and above.