We can all recall the terror-filled moment when we decided to create a home network. Just as two programs to ease the process gain steam, iCloud comes along, and risks making the whole concept of home AV networks obsolete.
“If they are more convenient for consumers, mobile cloud services could completely bypass the need for integration with home networks or entertainment equipment,” ABI Research analyst Kevin Burden said. Apple’s iCloud recently became the latest to offer services enabling consumers to store and retrieve music, photos and other data on the Internet. The iCloud service will be part of iOS 5 and available to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch owners. Both Google and Amazon have offered similar but more limited cloud-based options.
Before the rush to embrace cloud computing, networking firms were emphasizing two new technologies for smartphones: DLNA and Wi-Fi Direct. “Both programs help mitigate the difficulties that consumers often face when connecting devices at home, and both bring wireless technology further into the mainstream market,” said senior analyst Victoria Fodale. Smartphones with the new technology were expected to grow by 63 percent and 23 percent, respectively. However, home networking is projected to grow by only 4 percent.
What are your plans for iCloud? Will you use cloud-computing to replace streaming video and audio over home networking?
Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.
25 responses to “iCloud Might Turn Your iPhone Into Your Next Home Networking Router”
As people are already finding the iCloud has some serious disadvantages. For example if your intent was to have a single big media server in the home and stream content over WiFi to other devices (keeping hard drive footprint low) then be ready for a shock as iCloud tries to download and fill that empty space to keep all devices “helpful” in sync, turning those empty drives in clogged messes of media.
Also not everyone has unlimited cellular data. Which I think people keep forgetting in their exuberance over all things cloud. Hard line connections will still trump 3G for relability and comsistant major data use in a home. It’s going to be funny in another week or so when people’s bills start showing up due to iCloud data pushes.
The question is nonsensical. iCloud doesn’t do anything about streaming. AppleTV is not going to support it (at least not yet). So the most benefit it could have would be getting media onto your phone or ipad, which you could then send to an appleTV (or airport express) via airplay. You’d still need a home wifi network setup to support it. iCloud is an add on, not a replacement.
No, I will not be shifting everything into the cloud. I have experienced too many broad band outages (including unreliable connections TODAY) with the loss of access to essential data files to be able to do my job effectively.
Long phone calls to India to get support, followed by an appology that I will be unable to connect for hours or days. Not good enough, my boss will not buy it.
I have bought a Synology NAS which will be backed up off-site. All my files are going on it. I can access everything from every computer in my house. All my DVD’s will go on it.
I want OUT of the cloud NOW!
Keep it Apple, not a chance.
I guess I don’t understand all the hub-bub, iCloud pushes the data to your devices, meaning you will have access to the files whether you have an internet connection or not. I would assume this will be similar to Dropbox’s local folder.
Look at what Apple did with AirDrop. File sharing via AdHoc WiFi. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility that Apple would do the same thing with AppleTV/AirPlay.
Yet iCloud understands this and doesn’t attempt to get your to access all of your files from the cloud.
iCloud isn’t at all like Google’s implementation. iCloud supplements you local storage but it doesn’t replace it.
Considering iCloud as announced is only a backup and sync repository and not a streaming service, I don’t think it will replace my home network. Apple has another technology for limited streaming and that is Home Sharing in iTunes. Home Sharing allows me to share hundreds of movies and television shows with my family. There is also a lot the iPhone cannot do yet. ICloud may enhance my network but won’t be replacing it anytime soon.
Wouldn’t this pertain more to iOS AppleTV than iPhones? And isn’t that what Apple is more likely driving toward, a home network centered on AppleTV with data portability supported from iCloud? Your home network end up a stack of little white boxes – AppleTV (maybe with built-in Airport replacement) and a Mac mini server – supporting your iPhone, iPad, MacBooks, and desktops. In the even your broadband goes down the iPhone can be a backup data connection.
Wouldn’t this pertain more to iOS AppleTV than iPhones? And isn’t that what Apple is more likely driving toward, a home network centered on AppleTV with data portability supported from iCloud? Your home network end up a stack of little white boxes – AppleTV (maybe with built-in Airport replacement) and a Mac mini server – supporting your iPhone, iPad, MacBooks, and desktops. In the even your broadband goes down the iPhone can be a backup data connection.
look, what would make life easy is just let me connect/stream to devices nearby me regardless of the wifi network they are on.
wifi networks are a hassle especially when trying to teach someone else to use one
Indeed – Love Synology storage. I like their demo here – http://www.synology.com/us/pro…
what the heck is this guy talking about?
you’ll still need your telco/cableco modem/router/wifi. that IS the home network.
and you will still be watching a big screen TV.
the trick is auto seamless integration of all this and everything else, not “the cloud”. what a dope.
a solution: adding Apple TV to Airport Extreme/Time Capsule. coming this Fall.
iCloud is not the second coming. It’s just remote storage. Yes it’s put together with some nice, clever sync software but that’s it. There’s no way that my 10mb broadband connection will be able to sustain the simutaneous transfer of video and music to 4 (and more) devices (like my home network does now).