Apple Inc.’s AAPL -0.41% next mobile operating system will make syncing a cinch.
Currently, owners of Apple’s iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad devices connect their handhelds to a computer in order to transfer music, movies and photos. The process, called syncing, uses Apple’s jukebox software called iTunes.
With iOS 5, an upgrade to the mobile operating system that powers Apple’s handhelds, syncing will be a thing of the past. To do this, Apple is encouraging its customers to use cloud computing–the storage of information in Internet-accessible data centers–instead of space on a hard drive.
For example, if an iPhone user snaps a photo of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, the iOS 5-powered device will send it to iCloud, Apple’s cloud computing system. If the user than wants to look at the photo on his computer or iPad tablet, iCloud can deliver it to that machine.
With iOS 5, Apple aims to free its mobile products users from their computers and provide complete syncing across all of a users’ devices. A song purchased from an iPod Touch will be stored on iCloud, which launches in the autumn along with iOS 5, and delivered to the user’s iPhone and Mac computer. No cables are needed to transfer data.
The freedom from computers starts when someone takes a brand new Apple mobile device out of its box. Turn it on, adjust a few settings and the device is ready to download apps, surf the web and play movies. Previously, Apple’s mobile devices had to be connected to a computer before they could be used.
“You can set up and activate the device–on the device–and you’re ready to go,” said Scott Forstall, Apple’s mobile operating systems chief, when he announced iOS 5 at a conference in June. “We’re living in a post-PC world.”
An Apple spokeswoman said the company’s devices will also be able to receive software updates over the air, instead of through their computers as before.
Of course, not everyone will want to put their family photos in the cloud. Apple has a solution for that too. IOS 5 can talk wirelessly to computers on a home network, allowing material to be beamed to devices rather than transmitted via a cord.
Analysts note that Apple’s efforts bring it on par with devices powered by Google Inc.’s GOOG -0.52% Android software, a competing mobile operating system that is the most widely used platform for smartphones in the world. Android has offered similar functionality for years, they say.
“Apple refined that concept and made it their own,” said Gartner Inc. IT +0.70% analyst Mike McGuire, adding that Apple likely delayed the feature until now in order to make sure it was intuitive and free of bugs. “Removing the physical cable and being able to spread your content without a physical connection is a no-brainer.”
IOS 5 offers more than cloud computing.
The new operating system will let owners of Apple’s iPad 2 wirelessly transmit images to an Apple TV set-top-box. That will allow customers to display photos, apps or anything else on an HD television without plugging in a cord. Previously, Apple’s iPad 2 customers could plug their devices into televisions using a $39 adapter.
Apple will also allow customers to synchronize their calendars, contacts and email for free, using iCloud. Previously, it charged $99 per year for similar functionality under the soon-to-be-defunct Internet service, “MobileMe.”
Source:http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-demotes-pc-with-new-mobile-software-2011-08-30
