Apple Inc. is at it again.
On Monday, at the electronics company’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple introduced the iCloud, potentially a game-changing service that could threaten its major rivals.
Apple, admittedly, isn’t the first company to introduce cloud computing. Microsoft has been pushing cloud storage and applications for years, and for consumers, Internet giant Google Inc. has marketed its Google Docs as a clear alternative to desktop computing.
But are we witnessing a repeat performance by Apple—the company which didn’t invent the digital music player, but revolutionized the device and brought it to the masses—in its latest foray into unknown territory?
Apple CEO Steve Jobs, making an appearance to address thousands of software developers, admitted that its previous cloud-like service, MobileMe, “wasn’t our finest hour.”
The new iCloud service is free, and offers to sync calendar entries, e-mails, contacts, photos, documents, and automatic updates and then disseminates the information to a host of Apple devices such as the iPhone, iPad, and Macintosh computers.
“All of this happens automatically and wirelessly, and because it’s integrated into our apps you don’t even need to think about it—it all just works,” Jobs said in a statement released by Apple.
Monday also marked the day Jobs killed MobileMe.
The company also introduced iTunes Match service, a $24.99 per year service, which matches the music in iTunes and allows users to listen to their library remotely.
Coupled with its cloud service, Apple is clearly taking aim at Amazon.com’s Cloud Player and Google Music. While Apple matches your tunes to its library, the rival services require a user to upload all of his or her music, which could take hours, if not days.
To demonstrate that it is serious about the service, Apple recently completed a 500,000 square foot data service center in North Carolina to handle the traffic.
On Monday, Apple also gave an update on its Game Center, which is a social gaming platform for its iOS devices. Jobs announced that Apple has more than 50 million users signed up for Game Center. Jobs also did not hesitate to point out that Microsoft’s Xbox Live has only 30 million subscribers, although the target market for the two services are drastically different.
On Monday, at the electronics company’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple introduced the iCloud, potentially a game-changing service that could threaten its major rivals.
Apple, admittedly, isn’t the first company to introduce cloud computing. Microsoft has been pushing cloud storage and applications for years, and for consumers, Internet giant Google Inc. has marketed its Google Docs as a clear alternative to desktop computing.
But are we witnessing a repeat performance by Apple—the company which didn’t invent the digital music player, but revolutionized the device and brought it to the masses—in its latest foray into unknown territory?
Apple CEO Steve Jobs, making an appearance to address thousands of software developers, admitted that its previous cloud-like service, MobileMe, “wasn’t our finest hour.”
The new iCloud service is free, and offers to sync calendar entries, e-mails, contacts, photos, documents, and automatic updates and then disseminates the information to a host of Apple devices such as the iPhone, iPad, and Macintosh computers.
“All of this happens automatically and wirelessly, and because it’s integrated into our apps you don’t even need to think about it—it all just works,” Jobs said in a statement released by Apple.
Monday also marked the day Jobs killed MobileMe.
The company also introduced iTunes Match service, a $24.99 per year service, which matches the music in iTunes and allows users to listen to their library remotely.
Coupled with its cloud service, Apple is clearly taking aim at Amazon.com’s Cloud Player and Google Music. While Apple matches your tunes to its library, the rival services require a user to upload all of his or her music, which could take hours, if not days.
To demonstrate that it is serious about the service, Apple recently completed a 500,000 square foot data service center in North Carolina to handle the traffic.
On Monday, Apple also gave an update on its Game Center, which is a social gaming platform for its iOS devices. Jobs announced that Apple has more than 50 million users signed up for Game Center. Jobs also did not hesitate to point out that Microsoft’s Xbox Live has only 30 million subscribers, although the target market for the two services are drastically different.
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