Apple Launches iCloud Beta, Plans Fall Release

By Justin Lee,August 02, 2011
A screenshot of the Apple iCloud website

(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- In a relatively quiet launch, Apple (http://www.apple.com/) announced on Tuesday it has released its much anticipated cloud storage service, iCloud (http://www.icloud.com/), ahead of its fall release.

First announced in June at the WWDC 2011 conference, the cloud sync and media streaming service allows users to sync files, apps, app data, and media across iOS devices, Macs, and PCs.

Apple's willingness to market the service as a "cloud" offering to its customers proves just how the cloud has become a mainstream consumer technology.

It should also impact the direction for companies involved in the infrastructure hosting businesses in developing the back-end for the consumption and storage model that will emerge, following iCloud service's full release.

The beta is open to any user with an Apple ID, the beta release offers web-based versions of Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Find my IPhone and iWork. However, it does not include music streaming service, iTunes Match.

Using iOS 5 or Mac OS X Lion, the service can be accessed at the iCloud.com website, which features a similar front-end to the MobileMe service.

MobileMe and its corresponding website will officially be discontinued on June 30, 2012. Apple said that MobileMe features will continue to work until that time, and even well after users move over to iCloud, which should give users of iWeb, iDisk, and the Apple Gallery service plenty of time to transfer their files to other web hosts before MobileMe's full demise.

Users of iCloud beta can browse their webmail, manage their contacts, view and edit calendar events, and access the Find My iPhone tool.

The beta also includes a new app for iWork, which provides details for iCloud's file storage for documents generated in Keynote, Pages and Numbers iOS applications.

The service features a log-in screen that resembles the same one that was leaked in advance of Apple's official iCloud announcement at WWDC.

At the time, it was unsure whether the service would feature a Web-based front-end, but Apple eventually confirmed it would just a few weeks later.

Apple also released the official pricing structure for iCloud. The first 5 GB of storage on the service are free. After this point, users will be charged an $20 for an additional 10 GB, $40 for 20 GB and $100 for 50 GB.

  
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China Investigates & Shuts Down ‘Fake’ Apple Stores

July 25th, 2011 By: THN News

(The Hosting News) – Officials in China are said to be investigating various Apple retailers in the country after a blog post last week exposed a fake Apple store in Kunming, China.

The investigation has already resulted in two unauthorized Apple retailers shutting down. According to a Reuters report, the two were cited as failing to have a proper business license.

In a post last week, American blogger BirdAbroad (who lives in Kunming) described visiting a supposed Apple store in the city.
Even though having the Apple Store name, the products, and general layout, the blogger noted some obvious things that pointed towards the store being a fake. In fact, besides the one she initially posted on, BirdAbroad found another fake store with the obvious misspelling, “Apple Stoer.”
Despite the initial blog posting, it’s been reported that the two closures didn’t include the ‘fake’ Apple store initially described by the blogger.
Following the news, that store is said to be working on an Apple reseller application (according to the same Reuters report).

Apple currently has four ‘real’ Apple stores in the country, two in Beijing along with two in Shanghai. It’s unknown whether Apple played any part in the investigation and closures.

China is known as a hotspot for various counterfeited and copycatted items.
Recently AFP (Agence France-Presse) reported that last year EU officials seized fake items that accounted for a billion euros, 85% of which were from China.
However, entire counterfeit stores posing as the real thing appear to be less widespread.
It’s also important to note that the stores in question appear to have been selling actual Apple products.

Besides that, the country is known for its censorship of particular internet websites.
Blocked sites in the country have included the likes of Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
The country has also banned popular video game consoles including Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s Wii (the latter of which has led to a low quality Chinese rip-off system called the “Vii”).

Countries including the United States have criticized China over its rights record in the past.
Even with such tech limitations, Apple has seen progress in the Chinese market in the area of manufacturing. The company has various facilities, some of which are responsible for production of  Apple products like the iPad.

To view to the initial blog posting on the fake stores by BirdAbroad, visit:  http://birdabroad.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/are-you-listening-steve-jobs/

  
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Ruling: HTC Violated Apple Patents

July 18th, 2011 By: THN News

(The Hosting News) – In a preliminary ruling on Friday, the U.S. International Trade Commission determined that mobile developer HTC had violated two of Apple’s patents.

The news marks a major development in one of Apple’s battles concerning its patent designs.

Apple initially filed the lawsuit against HTC in March of last year, accusing HTC of ripping off twenty Apple patents including one regarding its  multitouch screen capability (as used on the iPhone).
When Apple filed the initial suit, company CEO Steve Jobs stated, “We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it.
We’ve decided to do something about it.”
Despite the move, HTC has indicated that it will seek to appeal the ruling.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Winston Yung, HTC’s CFO stated, “Now the course of action is to appeal, we believe we have a very strong case, the attorney agrees with us, and therefore we will appeal.”

If a final ruling determines that HTC did indeed violate Apple patents, it could have dire consequences for the company.
Such a ruling could prevent HTC from selling products found to be in violation within the United States. Meanwhile, the bad news for HTC has carried over into financial market.
A report by the Financial Times indicated that shares in the company had dropped by nearly 6.5 per cent since the ruling.
HTC is a smartphone developer based in Taiwan. The company previously became better known when it released the HTC Dream in 2008, the first cellphone to use Android mobile.

  
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Court Denies Apple’s App Store Injunction Request

July 7th, 2011 By: THN News

(The Hosting News) – A California district court recently rejected Apple’s request for a halt of Amazon’s use of the title ‘App Store.’ The rejection of the injunction was revealed in papers concerning court proceedings in Oakland.

In the filing, U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton stated, “The court finds that Apple has not established likelihood of success as to the infringement claims.”

By denying the injuction, Judge Hamilton also pointed out that various companies use ‘App Store’ as a “descriptive term.” The injunction request was part of Apple’s current lawsuit against Amazon for using the term.

Apple has previously used “App Store” and sought to get the term patented in 2008. However, with the patent process, the U.S. Patent office gave other top companies the chance to object to the filing.
Amazon began using the term “Appstore” in March without the spacing. Apple has argued that its use confuses customers.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Apple stated in its initial complaint, “Consumers of mobile software downloads are likely to be confused as to whether Amazon’s mobile software download service is sponsored or approved by Apple.”

Meanwhile, Amazon has argued that the term is generic. So far, the court seems to agree.

 
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Apple Confirms Discontinuation of iWeb, MobileMe Hosting in 2012

By Justin Lee,June 24, 2011

A screenshot of Apple's FAQ page about the MobileMe transition and iCloud

(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Apple (http://www.apple.com/) confirmed on Friday that it will discontinue service for iWeb publishing, MobileMe Gallery, and iDisk at the end of June 2012, as the company transitions over to its new iCloud service.

According to its MobileMe transition guide, Apple confirmed previous rumors that it will stop hosting MobileMe websites, Galleries and iDisk on June 30, 2012.


In a document, Apple gives further details about how current users can move their iWeb site from MobileMe to another Web host and copy files from your iDisk onto your Mac.

The company also provides additional documents about how users can download copies of photos and movies via the Web or through iPhoto or Aperture, as well as copy files from their iDisk onto their Mac.

Earlier this month, Apple revealed details about iCloud, a set of cloud storage and media services that allows users to sync their settings, media, apps, and music in sync across multiple devices.

In its newly updated FAQ, the company said that users will be able to access iCloud Mail, Contacts, Calendar, and Find My iPhone services on the Web, via icloud.com, "this fall," putting an end to previous speculations about whether Apple would introduce a Web interface to access the services.

Apple also said that iCloud will not work with the synching of some MobileMe services, such as Mac Dashboard widgets, keychains, Dock items, and System Preferences.

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iCloud Rumored to Mean Discontinuation of Apple's iWeb, MobileMe Hosting

By Justin Lee,June 13, 2011

A screenshot of Apple's iWeb service page

(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Apple (http://www.apple.com/) will soon discontinue its website publishing tool iWeb (www.apple.com/ilife/iweb) and hosting service MobileMe with the fall launch of the iCloud service (www.apple.com/icloud), according to report by popular rumors website MacRumors.

The demise of MobileMe comes as Apple begins to transition customers' use of online files and data towards its applications ecosystem, enabling them to keep their settings, media, apps, and music in sync across multiple devices.

The rumor comes a week after Apple released details about iCloud, a set of cloud storage and media services, at the Worldwide Developers Conference.

At the conference, Apple said it would completely discontinue the MobileMe service at the end of July 2012, as well as provide more information about the closure at a later date.

First launched in January 2006, iWeb enables users to build and host websites, blogs and podcasts.

The MacRumors report cited a purported email exchange between an unnamed iWeb/MobileMe user and Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

In the email, the user asked Jobs if the introduction of iCloud meant the demise of the MobileMe service, to which Jobs confirmed via iPhone with a simple "Yep."

Here is the full email exchange:

Q: Dear Mr. Jobs,
Will I need to find an alternative website builder and someone to host my sites?
I have invested a lot of time and effort and the thought of re-training sucks more than mobileme ever did.
 
Sent from my iPhone.

Though the email has not yet been confirmed by Jobs or Apple, MacRumors said that it has "examined the email headers and believe them to be legitimate". Meanwhile, the alleged email response from Jobs is characteristically terse.

 
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A: Yep.

Apple Releases iCloud Storage Service Details at WWDC

By Justin Lee, June 06, 2011

A screenshot of Apple's iCloud service page

(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Apple (http://www.apple.com/) announced on Monday details about iCloud (http://www.apple.com/icloud/), the company's heavily anticipated set of cloud storage and media services, at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Scheduled for release this fall, the new set of free cloud services works seamlessly with applications on Internet-enabled Apple devices and computers to automatically and wirelessly store user content in the cloud to be accessed on any other device.

When users add new music, images, documents or applications to one of their devices, the service will wirelessly update their other devices with this information almost instantly.

Apple may be entering the cloud storage services market relatively late considering top players like Amazon, Google, and Rackspace have been offering their own services for years.

However, this new set of services could potentially turn out to be a huge payout for the company in the long run.

In a rare appearance, Apple chairman and CEO Steve Jobs took the stage in front of a sold out crowd of over 5,200 WWDC attendees, prompting a standing ovation from the enthusiastic crowd.

The new cloud service was just one of three major announcements the company at the conference, including the new Mac OS X Lion and iOS 5 operating systems.

"Today it is a real hassle and very frustrating to keep all your information and content up-to-date across all your devices," said Jobs. "iCloud keeps your important information and content up to date across all your devices. 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."

The iCloud services include an updated version of Apple's MobileMe services, which includes Contacts, Calendar and Mail, which are re-architected and rewritten to work seamlessly with iCloud.

Users can share calendars with friends and family, and the ad-free push Mail account is hosted at me.com. Additionally, users' inbox and mailboxes are kept up-to-date across all iOS devices and computers.

iCloud Backup automatically and securely backs up purchased music, apps and books, photos and videos, device settings and app data uploaded to iOS devices, to iCloud daily over Wi-Fi when the devices are charged.

iCloud Storage seamlessly stores all documents created using iCloud Storage APIs, and automatically pushes them to all the users' devices.

Users are given up to 5GB of free storage for mail, documents and backup, and all purchased music, apps, books and Photo Stream do not count towards the storage limit.

Additionally, iCloud's Photo Stream service automatically uploads photos on devices and wirelessly pushes them to other devices and computers.

iTunes in the Cloud lets users download for free any previously purchased iTunes music to their iOS devices, and new music purchases can be downloaded automatically to all devices.

Using iTunes Match, any music that is not purchased from iTunes is replaced with a 256 kbps AAC DRM-free version if it is available on the iTunes Store.

The matched music is available in minutes compared to the lengthy duration of uploading an entire music library.

In the past couple of months, Google and Amazon launched their own cloud-based music streaming services, dubbed Music Beta by Google and Amazon Cloud Drive, respectively. But unlike Apple, they have not yet reached licensing deals with music labels.

iTunes Match will be available this fall for a $24.99 annual fee, while Apple has now released a free beta version of iTunes in the Cloud, without iTunes Match, for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users running iOS 4.3. iTunes in the Cloud will support all iPhones running iOS 5 this fall.

ICloud beta and Cloud Storage APIs are now available to iOS and Mac Developer Program members on developer.apple.com, while the iCloud service will not be available until this fall, along with iOS 5.

Apple will be powering the iCloud out of its three data centers, including its new massive data center in Maiden, North Carolina.

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Apple to Announce Details on Cloud Computing Service Next Week

By Justin Lee,May 31, 2011

An aerial shot of Apple's Maiden, North Carolina data center site

(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Apple (http://www.apple.com/) confirmed on Tuesday that it will announce details next Monday for its upcoming iCloud services offering at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference.

The announcement confirms suspicions among industry insiders that the company's massive, 500,000 square-foot data center in Maiden, North Carolina were strong indications it would soon be launching a new cloud offering. The data center will also support iTunes and MobileMe services.

It has also been confirmed that Apple has registered iCloud.com domain for the service.

The company has not yet released any other details about the iCloud service, including the pricing structure for the new cloud services.

The new iCloud service is rumored to let users upload and access their music on the company's servers, housed at the North Carolina data center.

The service would mean that users would no longer have to upload their songs onto the hard drive of each device.

Earlier this month, Apple reached music licensing deals with Sony, EMI Group and Warner Music Group, securing three of the four major record labels for the service.

In the past month, Google and Amazon launched their own cloud-based music streaming services titled Music Beta by Google and Amazon Cloud Drive, respectively. However, they have not yet reached licensing deals with music labels.

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Apple Secures Deal with Sony for Rumored Cloud Music Service

 By Justin Lee, May 20, 2011



An aerial shot of Apple's Maiden, North Carolina data center site

(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Apple (www.apple.com) has reached music licensing deals with Sony, EMI Group and Warner Music Group, in what some industry insiders believe is the company's first step towards launching an online subscription music service.

The company now only needs to secure a licensing deal with Universal Music Group to have all four major record labels on board for the service which will allow users to access their music libraries from mobile devices via the Internet.

The service is rumored to be hosted at Apple's massive, 500,000 square-foot data center in Maiden, North Carolina, which is also said to involve the relaunch of its MobileMe service.

Both an Apple spokesperson and representatives of the music labels declined to comment on the details of the rumored music subscription service.

The new iTunes service will let users upload their music on Apple's servers and access it via the Internet instead of uploading songs onto a device's hard drive, said individuals close to the matter.

It is still unclear as to whether Apple will charge a fee for the service or the exact date it will actually launch.

However, Apple could potentially give more details about the service and its launch date at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference, which will be held June 6 through 11.

Both Google and Amazon recently launched their own cloud-based music streaming services titled Music Beta by Google and Amazon Cloud Drive, respectively, despite securing licensing deals with music labels.

But unlike these rival services, Apple's cloud music service will not require users to upload their music libraries, said the individuals.

The cloud services are expected to jumpstart digital music sales, which have remained stagnant in the past few years.

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Apple Secures Deal with Sony for Rumored Cloud Music Service

By Justin Lee, May 20, 2011


An aerial shot of Apple's Maiden, North Carolina data center site

(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Apple (www.apple.com) has reached music licensing deals with Sony, EMI Group and Warner Music Group, in what some industry insiders believe is the company's first step towards launching an online subscription music service.

The company now only needs to secure a licensing deal with Universal Music Group to have all four major record labels on board for the service which will allow users to access their music libraries from mobile devices via the Internet.

The service is rumored to be hosted at Apple's massive, 500,000 square-foot data center in Maiden, North Carolina, which is also said to involve the relaunch of its MobileMe service.

Both an Apple spokesperson and representatives of the music labels declined to comment on the details of the rumored music subscription service.

The new iTunes service will let users upload their music on Apple's servers and access it via the Internet instead of uploading songs onto a device's hard drive, said individuals close to the matter.

It is still unclear as to whether Apple will charge a fee for the service or the exact date it will actually launch.

However, Apple could potentially give more details about the service and its launch date at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference, which will be held June 6 through 11.

Both Google and Amazon recently launched their own cloud-based music streaming services titled Music Beta by Google and Amazon Cloud Drive, respectively, despite securing licensing deals with music labels.

But unlike these rival services, Apple's cloud music service will not require users to upload their music libraries, said the individuals.

The cloud services are expected to jumpstart digital music sales, which have remained stagnant in the past few years.
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