What the iCloud will cause to happen next
There’s always a danger, when a company like Apple comes up with a sweeping move like the iCloud, of viewing it in isolation. But the responses from Apple’s rivals will be rapid.
That, of course, is exactly why Steve Jobs has just tried to stake out the territory in his own inimitable way, months before Apple is actually in a position to launch a service. Sound familiar? It’s the same game plan that Microsoft followed for so many years. Read more
Apple: iCloud and more
Steve Jobs appeared at the opening of Apple’s Worldwide Developer conference on Monday with what he said was a new approach to personal computing that had been ten years in gestation: the iCloud.
The service is based on an idea that Mr Jobs said he had a decade ago, and which involved computers becoming personal hubs. The iCloud will store all of a users’ content, and push it to all of that person’s Apple devices: “iCloud is integrated with your apps, so everything happens automatically.”
Details from the presentation follow after the break. Read more
While investors were giddy this week about the latest tech-company IPOs, the technologists themselves were more interested in the advent of services bringing music to people from the cloud–or clouds. Read more
Amazon looks to Gaga-power a cloud ahead of Apple
Along with Google, Amazon beat digital-music kingpin Apple in the race to launch a cloud offering that lets users hear their songs on any device, but this week’s deal with Lady Gaga shows just how much it dreads the widely anticipated arrival of competition from Cupertino. Read more
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Richard Waters has headed the FT's San Francisco bureau since 2002 and covers Google and Microsoft, among other things. A former New York bureau chief for the FT, he is intrigued by Silicon Valley's unique financial and business culture, and is looking forward to covering his second Tech Bust.
Chris Nuttall has been online and messing around with computers for more than 20 years and since 2004 has reported from the FT's San Francisco bureau on semiconductors, video games, consumer electronics and all things interwebby.
Maija Palmer has been writing about technology for the FT since 1999 and is fascinated by cybercrime, privacy and all the other issues of the information society. Based in London, she covers European tech companies and hopes that they won't all get acquired by American rivals.
Robin Kwong is the FT's technology, media and telecoms page editor in London. Formerly he was the Taipei correspondent and wrote about the companies that manufacture the vast majority of the world's computers and gadgets. He is interested in the intricacies of the technology supply chain and how China is increasingly changing the tech landscape.
Tim Bradshaw is the FT's digital media correspondent, and has just moved from London to join our team in San Francisco. He has covered start-ups such as Twitter and Spotify, as well as the online ambitions of more established media companies, such as the BBC iPlayer. He also covers the advertising, marketing and video-game industries. Tim has been writing about technology, business and finance since 2003.
