Apple's iCloud redefines the mobile -- and cloud -- experience

June 07, 2011

You have to hand it to Apple. When the company gets serious about something, it really creates a paradigm shift. Yesterday, Apple did it again with iCloud, the forthcoming cloud service that will debut this fall with iOS 5 (it's in partial beta now). The concept is very simple: Have all your devices sync automatically over the air, using the cloud as the intermediary. One account covers as many as 10 devices (including iPhones, iPads, iPod Touches, Macs, in some cases PCs, and in some cases Apple TVs), and it handles contacts, calendars, email, music, e-books, e-magazines, documents, photos, and even apps. Make a change or purchase on one device, all your devices have it. Have all your key data backed up automatically as well.

That simplicity is an Apple hallmark. What Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced at the WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) gets rid of the rat's nest of synchronization and the hodgepodge of cloud services that mobile users contend with today -- or it will once developers implement the supporting APIs into their Mac and iOS applications. (Apple's iOS 5 apps will be iCloud-savvy from the get-go. The revised iWork suite for iOS released last week already is.)

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You also won't need to worry about syncing to your computer to install an iOS update; that happens over the air. Your backup happens automatically when your device is in range of your Wi-Fi network, once a day. Your files are in one place -- iCloud -- and thus in all your places, so you don't have to worry about remembering to bring them or upload them to a service like Dropbox or Box.net.

That's how it will work: Apple basically becomes your core cloud services provider, offering the synchronization and storage of those files and resources that matter most to you as an individual. These services come at no charge -- ironically, taking Google's pricing strategy and adding the seamless integration Google doesn't provide -- if you're a citizen of Apple or at least gave an Apple "green card" on your PC.

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobile-technology/apples-icloud-redefines-the-mobile-and-cloud-experience-324?source=rss_mobile_technology

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