Apple unveils iCloud, iOS5 and Lion OS

Apple Inc. unveiled a new storage, retrieval and sharing service Monday, while also launching new operating systems for its Mac computers and mobile devices like the iPhone and iPad.

Chief executive Steve Jobs and other executives said the free iCloud service gives customers access to all their music, photographs and other files across their devices. The new Mac operating system, called Lion, and the software that drives the mobile devices, called iOS5, will give an improved feel to Apple products.

An iCloud account will store user information from several devices, including iPhones and iPads, and make sure the same contacts, calendar events and files are available on all of them. It also backs up the data on Apple's servers. It mimics Google's Docs system for online files, and products from smaller online-storage companies like Dropbox.

The iCloud service also will allow customers to store their music online. Buy a song on iTunes once, and it will be available on up to 10 devices.

The basic service will be free for now and replaces a $99-a-year Apple service called MobileMe, which Jobs said "was not our finest hour."

ICloud could give users a wide array of music for their iPhones, iPads and Wi-Fi-capable iPods, without having to connect them to their home computers to transfer songs. Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. already have similar services.

The music portion of iCloud is available now, with remaining features coming in the fall.

Earlier, Apple unveiled its Lion operating system update for Mac computers. With it, Apple is expanding the ways finger-touches on the trackpad can control software.

In another nod to bringing the computer closer to the iPhone and iPad, Apple is adapting programs to run in a special full-screen mode, in addition to the traditional "window" mode.

Lion will be available to consumers next month for $30.

Apple also unwrapped updates to its software for iPhones and iPads. It will present notifications of new emails, missed calls and other events in a more intelligent fashion, reminiscent of the way Google Inc.'s Android smartphone software does.

The new mobile software, iOS5, will have a newsstand for newspapers and magazines that you subscribe to on iPad.

Apple also announced greater integration with Twitter, so users can tweet photos directly from a photo app.

Comparing services

 
iTunes in the Cloud, Apple Inc.

Price: Free to add purchased iTunes songs, $25 per year to scan hard drives for songs acquired elsewhere, which are then added to iCloud locker.

Music sales: Via iTunes store.

Availability: Now as a test version. Hard drive scanning, known as iTunes Match, coming in the fall.

Licenses with recording companies: Yes.

Devices: Up to 10: Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad, Wi-Fi iPods.

Content besides music: ICloud service, which is free, also syncs contact, calendar entries, photos, documents and other files.

Play music you own but didn't upload: Yes, as long as iTunes can match it with one of the 18 million songs in its music store. If it's not on iTunes, you can upload it.

Google Inc.'s Music Beta

Price: Free "for a limited time." No pricing announced.

Music sales: No.

Availability: Currently by invitation only.

Licenses with recording companies: No.

Devices: Up to eight -- Mac, PC or Android smartphones or tablet computers that run Flash (no iPad).

Content besides music: No.

Play music you own but didn't upload: No.

Amazon.com Inc.'s Cloud Drive and Cloud Player from Amazon.com Inc.

Price: Free up to 5 gigabytes, yearly plans range from $20 a year for 20 GB to $1,000 for 1,000 GB. U.S. customers qualify for free 20 GB storage with an album purchase through Amazon.com.

Music sales: Through Amazon.com.

Availability: Open to anyone, requires an Amazon account.

Licenses with recording companies: No.

Devices: Up to eight -- Mac, PC or Android smart phones.

Content besides music: Docs, photos and videos.

Play music you own but didn't upload: When you buy a song on Amazon it can be transferred directly to the cloud and played right away.

How It Works: If the iCloud service works as promised, users will no longer need to connect their iPhones or iPads to their computers to move photos, music or files from one device to the other.

For photos, documents and other content that users create themselves, any device running iCloud will automatically upload those files via the Internet to Apple Inc.'s massive new data center in rural North Carolina.

Photos snapped on an iPhone, for example, will be stored in an individual's iCloud account. An iPad or Mac computer logged into the same account will automatically download that photo to keep all the devices in sync.

The same applies to email, calendars, contacts and documents. That puts Apple in direct competition with similar services offered by Google Inc., such as Gmail and Google Documents.

The iCloud music service goes several steps further.

First, people will be able to download anything they purchased on iTunes to any device they own.

A new feature called iTunes Match will also scan devices for any music not purchased on iTunes, For $25 a year, users will be able to access any of the 18 million songs available on iTunes that match their own collections. Finally, any music they own but that isn't available in the iTunes store will be uploaded to their iCloud accounts.