There's big money in online storage, in case the presence of Google, Microsoft, and a seemingly endless parade of startups didn't tip you off. Box.com has been one of the more consistent rivals to Dropbox, Google Drive and SkyDrive OneDrive, and it looks like the small company is about to up its game in a big way. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Box is preparing for an initial public offering.

Box is particularly worthy of note for Android users, since partnerships with some OEM manufacturers have made promotional accounts with up to 50GB of cloud storage available. The WSJ says that Box's IPO plans come after the latest round of investment funding valued the company at a whopping billion (or approximately .7 Motorolas). Thanks to the Security and Exchange Commission's new powers under the JOBS Act of 2012, Box could have filed for the IPO in secret. When asked, a company spokeswoman gave a boilerplate "no comment" answer.

A potential boom in capital from an IPO could give Box the edge it needs against Dropbox and all the other competitors, allowing for greater capabilities and even more corporate partnerships. That could come in the form of more free storage tied into devices. At the moment Box's free tier offers 10GB of storage, with paid options starting at 100GB (plus various advanced features) for $5 a month.

Source: Wall Street Journal

[EMBED_APP]https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.box.android[/EMBED_APP]