Apple’s WWDC ( World Wide Developer Conference) held few days back was on the dot with respect to expectations. There were announcements of the newer 3G version of the iPhone, the lower priced versions and also the availability of them in several countries. But what was also important was Apple’s announcement of the availability of new cloud service called MobileMe.
An excerpt from iTWire:
But what really sets MobileMe apart from its predecessor is that instead of relying on client-instigated synchronization, it will also push new contacts, calendar items and bookmarks to the client. This will happen whether the client is a Mac, a Windows-based system, an iPhone or an iPod touch.
Cloud computing, as the buzzword goes, represents a change to the way computing has been happening for a while. From the PC at the workplace to your smart phone to your laptop at home, there are are a number of devices you use for your computing needs. Hence it makes logical sense to make available your data no matter what device you use. Its a fact that Microsoft has so ambitiously detailed in its own cloud framework and now Apple is making the same play.
Along with the cloud framework, their is the move to platforms that is also happening in the industry. Google, SalesForce, FaceBook and Amazon have all got involved in the same to attract the best minds of the developer community. Apple is gunning for the same (albeit on accidentally discovering the allure of developers to the iPhone) with its Apps Store.
Last year, Nicholas Carr, the author of “Big Switch”, had mentioned how the combination of Google and Apple could make for the perfect cloud computing framework. Apple with its expertise at hardware and interfaces and Google with its massive data centers to support millions of users and activities could make for the most formidable combination. No doubt that is happening now but more is also happening. Apple does believe in having the cake and eating it while Google is also flexing its own mobile muscles with the Android.
Apple has set its sights on the sale of 10 million iPhones in 2008. At the same time its getting the groundwork in place for a major cloud framework. With the macs Apple had been qualified as a niche player but with the iPhone it seems to be all set to scale unprecedented heights in the mobile computing world. Not to forget that Apple is aggressively targeting the enterprise space as well.
What has set Apple apart is the intuitiveness of its software and the perfect sync between its software and hardware. Transcending that to the cloud could make for some serious competition to the present giants in the online space.
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