iCloud utilize Microsoft Azure

dalaohu

Logo 都一样？

It seems so, according a report by InfiniteApple, our sister site. After someone used Charles — a web debugging tool — to set up a WiFi proxy on their iPad to see just what happens when you send an image over iMessage, the web traffic that occurred was intriguing: It appears that iCloud utilized Microsoft Azure as well as Amazon’s AWS cloud services in the process of sending the image.


To quote the InfiniteApple post, “icloud.com provides some sort of authentication to a windows.net address, and then sends a confirmation back to iCloud. Image downloads come from an s3.amazonaws.com address.”

Apple have been constructing massive datacenters, presumably for iCloud. So why the need to also utilize these third-party cloud services created by competitors? Perhaps, due to the overwhelming amount data they anticipate will be uploaded/transmitted through iCloud, they may be using these services as some sort of CDN. We doubt that iCloud is entirely based off of these services, however.

It’s also possible that the use of these services is temporary, and once their own datacenters are fully operational, Apple will stop using these other providers altogether.

Microsoft declined comment on the matter. For all the screenshots of the traffic that was sniffed out, check out InfiniteApple’s post.

[ 本帖最后由 dalaohu 于 2011-6-8 09:35 编辑 ]

dalaohu

Yesterday Steve Jobs gave us the most detailed view so far of Apple’s iCloud, a file sync/backup/sharing service coming to iOS (read: iPhone, iPad) this fall.  Microsoft similarly has been revamping SkyDrive, placing it more firmly at the center of its consumer cloud services, and planning a more seamless experience for SkyDrive and Windows Phone with the upcoming Mango update.  We’re expecting to hear more about Microsoft services like MyPhone and Live Mesh, too, all part of the Microsoft syncing/cloud storage ecosystem.

Today, Mike Torres recaps what’s currently available with SkyDrive in a post on Inside Windows Live, and what’s upcoming with Mango.  Of course we’ve also been telling you about how SkyDrive will become more of a centerpiece with Windows Live Wave 5, showing up in the header, with a single entry point for all your cloud based files.

So which service is better?  Of course first of all it depends on which “ecosystem” you’re invested in, but if you’re looking to get into the smartphone market, cloud based services could be a tipping point in whether to go Apple or Microsoft.  Let’s take a look at some of the key features of both services:



Music

Afraid there just isn’t much comparison here, at least in terms of popularity.  Apple owns the online music biz, and iTunes dominates the space.  New features in iCloud will, for the first time, allow users to re-download purchased music for any of your Apple devices.  PC World describes the service as part of a slideshow on what’s new in iCloud:

Any apps you purchased will be available for redownload on any iOS device via a purchase-history menu, and you can have iCloud automatically push new purchases to all your devices. iCloud includes 5GB of free cloud storage for Mail, Document Storage, and Backup. Purchased music, apps, and books, as well as Photo Stream content, do not count against the storage limit.

iCloud doesn’t store your music in the cloud, it stores your iTunes purchase history, and for an additional $25/year, you can scan and match all of your music, purchased anywhere, and if it’s in iTunes, you’ll be able to download those songs to any iOS device you own.  This is somewhat brilliant, we think, as it saves Apple from being a depository for millions (billions?) of copies of the same music, instead serving music out of a central repository to anyone with the proper access.

At the same time, the Zune approach, with Zune Pass (and others like Skype’s Rdio, Spotify, MOG, and others) moves away from the music purchase model altogether, giving you access to all of the music available to the service, for a fee.  We’ve even seen hints of a SkyDrive music experience.  If you’ve purchased lots of music on iTunes, well you’re kind of locked in (that’s the whole idea).  But, as Frederic Lardinois asks at SiliconFilter.com, is the music purchase model outdated?



Backup
iCloud is going to back up all your iOS devices with all your Apple stuff: calendar, email (well me.com email), contacts, (iWork) documents, Apps, and iBooks.  Steve Jobs says “you won’t have to do anything”.  Well, except totally buy into the Apple system, that is.  SkyDrive, and what we believe to be coming in MyPhone “version 2”, isn’t so restrictive.  We’re still waiting to hear about what Microsoft has in store with Live Mesh, too.  Hotmail has made great strides in integrating other email services like Gmail, and is one of the biggest email services in the world (does me.com even rank?).  Windows Phone can treat contacts from other services, including Facebook, the same as Hotmail or Exchange contacts, and we’re coming to the documents part of the equation…

Documents
The new SkyDrive (some pundits are saying we’ll be seeing it in June, but we’re still waiting) is going to allow 25gb of storage for all your files, all accessible in one place.  Photos, Office docs, PDFs, music (how this plays out is yet to be seen), any kind of file you want, can be stored in the cloud.  Accessed from anywhere (just about literally anywhere, all you need is a browser, or even an iPhone app like OneNote for iPhone), and depending on what the “SkyDrive application” that Brian Hall mentioned last week turns out to be, SkyDrive files may be far more easily managed from your PC or your devices.

iCloud takes a much more restrictive approach to Documents, too.  The docs are restricted to iWork documents; Pages, Numbers, and Keyword (and really, who even uses those?).  No word on even syncing Office for Mac documents.  In any case, SkyDrive will be far more open and accessible, no matter what kind of files you’re storing.

Photos
As we’ve moved from a totally PC centric world to one where devices made and used almost entirely for consumption and not creation (the iPad is a great example), the one area where consumers continue to create, and create prolifically, is with photos.  Digital photography was big before the advent of the iPhone and other smartphones with built in cameras and easy access to web upload, but now it’s REALLY big.  Those photos can become priceless, and a sure fire way of making sure we can not only capture, but keep our precious memories is ever more important.

iCloud takes an interesting approach to photo storage.  Photos are synced between all your devices and on iCloud servers, with some caveats.  Your device will retain the last 1000 photos you took, although you’ll be able to create folders and keep your favorites on your devices.  iCloud will store the last 30 days of your photos – enough time to share new experiences and get them synced to your Mac, but after that, they’ll be replaced by newer photos, apparently.  No word on permanent cloud storage, even as a paid alternative.

SkyDrive on the other hand gives you 25 gb of storage to do with what you want.  Seamless sync isn’t possible (yet, will it be coming?), although you can choose to automatically upload photos from your Windows Phone to SkyDrive (or to Facebook, for that matter).

The Experience
Apple has built an easy, elegant solution with iCloud, with the usual provisions: you buy totally into the Apple ecosystem and you do it their way.  If you do, iCloud is going to make your life quite a bit easier, and at the same time be manageable for Apple, who even as they are making huge investments in data centers, are very much late to this game.  Amazon, Google, and Microsoft all have far more experience and far more hardware invested in cloud based services, but Apple’s unique approach to music and photos storage may just be a smarter way to do cloud storage (as long as you do it their way, of course).

Microsoft, with Windows Phone, SkyDrive and Hotmail, can even now provide similar services to Apple, but lack the simplicity and elegance.  Sometimes better features aren’t better, if they don’t work seamlessly well together.  With Windows Phone Mango, a new SkyDrive, and Windows Live Wave 5, all expected to arrive at about the same time as iCloud and iOS 5, will we get better features AND a seamless experience, and will it make a difference in the marketplace?

[ 本帖最后由 dalaohu 于 2011-6-8 09:44 编辑 ]

dalaohu

Joe Belfiore posted another interesting pair of tweets late yesterday, reminding people that quite a few of the features that Apple is including in iOS 5 are already available or announced in Microsoft Products, either Windows Phone 7 or Windows 8. He tweeted one yesterday, mentioning just the camera button.
Today, he took it a bit further, and listed off several items that Apple has seemingly taken from Windows phone 7, or Windows 8. In Apple’s defense, the Windows 8 thumb keyboard was announced last week, but the rest… You can decide.
Slide on past the break to see how the similarities break down.
Source: WinRumors

Improved Notifications: iOS is adding notifications that cover the top few pixels of your screen, and are dismissed by swiping them off to the side. It's a staple of Windows Phone 7.

Thumb Keyboard: Last week, Microsoft showed off their thumb keyboard in Windows 8. Apple showed off their version yesterday. Apple's seems a bit slicker, in that you push a button to open the thumb keyboard in Windows 8, and sort of tear the keyboard in half in iOS.

Social Media, baked right in!: Apple has shown off their Twitter integration. Microsoft already has Facebook integration, and is adding Twitter integration in Mango. Microsoft probably has it right here, but many iOS faithful will be excited to no longer have to deal with memories of the dickbar.

Background downloads: Apple showed off a BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service, the Windows update download mechanism) style background download service for iOS, and will be using it to push out magazines and newspapers automatically. Microsoft has a similar service, and is releasing the API’s with Mango.

Messaging: Apple is introducing iMessage with iOS 5. It will use data (either Wifi or 3g) to push SMS style messages, similar to Blackberry IM. It will only work with iOS devices. Although Mango will not have a custom IM solution, it will leverage Lync, Facebook IM, and Live Messenger, which will offer similar options, but without the iOS restriction.

Automatic Photo Upload:iOS 5 will allow you to automatically upload pictures to the iCloud service. Windows Phone 7 will already allow you to upload to your SkyDrive, or Facebook. There is no word on uploading photos to a service from the iPhone camera app.

Wifi sync: iOS will now allow you to sync your device to your computer without a sync cable, something we Zune and Windows Phone users have been doing for years.
So, is this flattering being the best compliment or just a bunch of good ideas crossing platforms?

[ 本帖最后由 dalaohu 于 2011-6-8 10:10 编辑 ]