Google is collaborating with the Taiwan-based smartphone manufacturer, HTC, to offer free online drive storage on select HTC devices for a limited period.
As of now, the lucky HTC devices to receive the free cloud storage service from Google are the recently launched phablets, HTC One Max and HTC One, reveals the official site for Google Drive. The search engine giant has not yet come up with a complete list of HTC smartphones which may receive the update in the coming days. Some HTC One Max users outside the United States have reportedly obtained the additional storage space on their devices already and the rest need to upgrade to the latest Android 4.3 version and HTC'S new sense 5.5 UI to avail the offer.
Google will be offering 50GB free storage on HTC One Max and 25GB on HTC One. Both the offers will be valid for a maximum of two years. Also the HTC One developer edition does not fall under the list, states the official site.
The HTC owners need to have a Google account and an internet connection before going ahead with the following steps to empower their devices with the additional storage capacity. Launch the Google Drive app on the smartphone, click on Redeem and go by further instructions as they appear on the screen.
However, there are certain pre conditions on the offer that the HTC users need to abide by before availing the offer. "The offer must be redeemed before January 1, 2016. For most devices, you'll have your storage for 2 years, starting on the date you redeem the offer," reports gadgets ndtv. "You'll only be able to redeem one offer one time per device. You may redeem one +50GB offer and one +25GB offer on two eligible devices using the same Google Account. You may not redeem the offer of the same type on more than one account within a 12 month period."
If the HTC users want to enhance their storage capacity further, beyond the offer, then they will be charged. Google pairing up with the Taiwanese manufacture to offer free cloud storage service can be viewed as a well balanced market strategy helping both the partners to garner more consumers for their products.
Last month, Google officially unveiled its Quickoffice app, which will come with 10GB free Google drive storage. It seems like the California-based tech is extending its online storage offers on multiple products to keep pace with potential rivals like Dropbox and Sky Drive who initiated similar complementary offers earlier.
