iCloud allows users to store photos, music online on the Web without using a cable
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs on Monday interrupted
his medical leave to unveil a free service called iCloud that stores music, photos
and other content on the Internet and shares it across multiple devices.
"We are going to move the digital hub to the cloud,"
the 56 year old Jobs told software developers at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers
Conference at San Francisco's Moscone Centre. Jobs and other Apple executives also
gave developers a preview of the next generation of Lion, the software that powers
Macintosh computers, and iOS 5, the latest mobile operating system for the iPhone,
iPad and iPod Touch.
But the highlight of the event was Apple's long-awaited iCloud service, which eliminates
the need to hook up a cable to transfer music, photos, documents or electronic books
between Apple devices. "Keeping these devices in sync is driving us crazy," Jobs
said to cheers from the audience of more than 5,000 software developers. "We've
got a great solution for this problem, and we think the solution is our next big
insight. iCloud stores your content in the cloud and automatically pushes it to
all your devices," he said.
Apple said iCloud wirelessly synchronises mail, contacts, calendars, photos, applications,
e-books, music and other files across devices. Apple's 'iTunes in the Cloud' lets
users download previously purchased music and new music purchases to Apple devices
while a Photo Stream service wirelessly pushes photos to all connected devices and
computers.
For music not purchased through iTunes, Apple is offering a service called 'iTunes
Match' for $24.99 a year that matches music in a subscriber's personal digital music
collection and makes it available online. Jobs took the stage to a standing ovation
shortly after the music sound system blared out the James Brown hit I Feel Good.
"Thank you, that always helps," said Jobs. Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at technology
research company Gartner, said iCloud represents a pretty big shift for Jobs. "Where
10 years ago he talked about the Mac as the hub for your digital life, today he
said the cloud is now the hub for your digital life," Gartenberg said.
Courtesy: DNA India
