Apple catches up to rivals with iOS 5

Nick Dillon/Ovum
08 Jun 2011
00:00
 
Finally embraces internet services
 
At odds with the other mobile platforms, Apple has traditionally not placed a huge emphasis on the cloud, choosing instead to treat its devices as standalone units and relying on physical cables to transfer data between them.
 
The new iCloud automatically replicates content such as photos between a user’s iOS devices, which will be a cause of concern for operators and companies such as Dropbox who offer cloud storage and backup services. One small consolidation for operators is that the iCloud will only sync when the device is connected to a Wi-Fi network, which at least will save the mobile networks from this new deluge of data.
 
Apple has wisely chosen to scrap the fee for its cloud services, having come to the conclusion that the value of increasing Apple customers’ reliance on its services, and the resulting repeat device sales, is more valuable that the revenues that were generated via MobileMe. This move reiterates the fact that Apple is primarily a devices company, and will use services to make its products more desirable rather than to monetize them in their own right. 
 
Third-party integration gives hint to future of iOS
 
For the first time, Apple has integrated a third-party service, namely Twitter, into the core of the iOS platform.
 
Twitter seems a curious choice as the sole service to integrate, and arguably Facebook with its 700 million users (compared to Twitter’s 200 million) would have made a much more popular choice.
 
This isn’t the first time that Facebook and Apple have failed to partner though; reportedly Facebook Connect was removed from Apple’s Ping social network just prior to launch, hinting that there may be more rivalry between the two companies than meets the eye.
 
Nick Dillon is a devices and platforms analyst at Ovum. For more information go to www.ovum.com/

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