Spotted in the wild — the Google Web Drive?

Hints continue to surface that Google may be gearing up for the launch of an online storage system, which could be known as “Web Drive.” Another reference was found today in a cascading style sheet (CSS) file for Google Apps. In it, is an icon (right) for a mini “webdrive,” notes Google Operating System.

Now, one of these references by itself may have meant nothing — after all, a web drive icon could simply be something Google plans to use to make its graphical user interface on the web more obvious to users who are accustomed to a Windows-style file system. But this icon added to the wide range of other hints suggesting that the web drive is the long-rumored “Google Drive” or “GDrive,” online storage system meant to compete with the likes of Microsoft’s Live SkyDrive and others.

SkyDrive currently gives users 25 gigabytes of free storage, while Google currently offers its users about 7.5 gigabytes of free storage for Gmail and another 1GB of free Picasa Web Album storage. If you need more room than that, Google has a few different storage purchase plans. Currently, 10GB will cost $20 a year, 40GB will be $75 a year, 150GB will be $250 a year and 400GB will be $500 a year. Compared to something like Amazon S3, these prices are comparable, but here’s hoping Google makes it even more competitive if and when it does launch its Web Drive project.

Or even better, how about unlimited storage for free? Hey, a guy can dream, right?