Jobs, on medical leave since Jan. 17, will make his second public appearance of 2011 at Apple’s conference in San Francisco. He will preview software updates for Apple’s iPhone, iPad and Mac, as well the new iCloud online storage service, which may help those devices wirelessly share the same materials.
Apple is using iCloud to retain its dominance in the smartphone and tablet markets amid fresh competition from devices powered by Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android software. The new service may improve how users can access content across different Apple devices, keeping customers from defecting to rivals, said Frank Gillett, with Forrester Research Inc.
“The world we’re headed to is where you don’t have to think about which gadget has your stuff,” Gillett said. “As people get their content organized around one of these personal ecosystems, then it will be incredibly sticky because migrating won’t be convenient.”
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, fell $2.66 to $343.44 on the Nasdaq Stock Market on June 3, the most recent trading day. The shares have climbed 6.5 percent this year.
Apple will scan the songs customers have purchased from iTunes and quickly mirror those collections on the company’s servers, said the people, who declined to be named because the talks are private.
Google and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) each introduced cloud music services in recent months, letting users upload songs to remote servers and access them from a browser or smartphone with an Internet connection. The uploading process can take hours.
Through licensing deals with record labels, Apple has entire collections on its servers. That means it can more quickly provide customers access to their songs.
The iCloud service can help all of Apple’s products and applications running on its devices work more seamlessly together, said Matt Drance, the founder of app maker Bookhouse Software and a former Apple software engineer.
By adding new Web features, Apple could loosen the need for users to regularly plug in an iPhone, iPad or iPod to keep the devices synchronized, he said. Instead, the updates could be made wirelessly.
Apple’s success in enabling customers to easily access their files and other content across multiple devices will be key to keeping customers and developers locked in to its ecosystem, said Forrester’s Gillett.
“We’re beginning a flip from which gadget you use to which service helps you manage all your information,” Gillett said.
[bloomberg] Android devices,cloud based,ICloud,Technology
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