Apple’s iCloud service is almost fully alive but will this service be better than what’s already on the market?

Apple has finally flipped the switch on iCloud.com. This will be the company’s most ambitious attempt at cloud services for consumers. But the market is filled with services that do similar things and Apple’s last attempt, with MobileMe, was an utter failure. Will iCloud be any good?

First, let’s break down what iCloud will mean to you. Basically, this is a personal cloud-based backup service for your iDevice, including your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Macintosh. You’ll also have web-based apps to manage your e-mail, contacts, photos, find your iPhone and more.

The iCloud service will give you 5 GB of storage for free and your apps, photos, and iTunes purchases won’t count against that cap. If you want some more storage space, you’ll have to pay $20 a year for 10 Gb, $40 a year for 20 GB or $100 a year for $50 GB. Think of iCloud like a cloud storage app that’s deeply integrated into the core of the platform with Apple’s usual design flourishes.

What do I mean by design flourishes? Just log in to the iCloud.com website and open up the Calendar web app–you’ll see that it’s gorgeous to look at. It basically looks like a real leather calendar within your browser and all of the changes you make on the web will be immediately visible on your iPhone, computer, or iPad. Apple wants to keep all of your services in order–so you don’t have to.

I’m not totally in love with what I’ve seen from the web-based apps so far. I get kind of annoyed with those touches because it’s trying to make my browser look like a physical calendar and that actually limits things. I understand why Apple wants to do that on the iPhone and iPad because it gets us comfortable with interacting with the apps via the touchscreen but people know how to work an online calendar nowadays.

For all of the talks about Apple being innovative and visionary, I’ve always found it funny how bad of an experience it is to set up an iPhone. You plunk down hundreds of dollars, rip through the packaging and then have to plug it into the bloated monster known as iTunes and then wait for it to activate and back up your device.

Compare this to the experience on Android or even Windows Phone 7: You take the new device home, turn it on, type in an e-mail and password, and then all your contact information and app history is automatically downloaded. It really is one of those “automagic” experiences that you don’t really appreciate until you move to a device that doesn’t have it like the iPhone.

Luckily, iOS 5 is going to change that and iCloud is finally going to make the iPhone a rival when it comes to Internet-based services. The next version of the iDevice software will include a way to activate devices without plugging them into computers and iCloud has the potential to resonate with the average consumer in a way that existing cloud-apps can’t.

For example, I believe one of the most important features of iCloud will be the PhotoStream app. This will provide an automatic backup of all the photos you’ve taken on your iPhone or iPad and you can even provide a stream to your Apple TV to show off the pictures. This can also back up many of the photos you have on your Macintosh, so you won’t have to lose those memories if your hard drive crashes.

I’m a big fan of mobile photography. I believe that automatic backup is a key element in my perfect cameraphone. Again, this is nothing new, as the Google+ Android app does it and even the ill-fated Kin would automatically back up your photos to an online repository. Still, when you consider how popular the iPhone is with shutterbugs and how easy iCloud will make storing and accessing your snapshots, I’m sure this will be a must-have feature when iOS 5 and iCloud land in the Fall.

What’s drool-worthy about the future of iCloud is that it may soon replace the need for physical storage. We saw an Apple TV update which will let you stream previously-purchased TV shows to your device and it’s not too difficult to see this being extended to all iDevices. That means that you could soon watch any movie or TV show you ever purchased with iTunes on your iPhone, iPad or Mac all thanks to iCloud.

I still don’t think that iCloud is going to be great as a tool for mass collaboration but iCloud is going to be amazing for individuals even if it’s doesn’t offering anything that mobile tech enthusiasts haven’t seen before.

Source: Know Your Cell – Cell Phone News, Reviews, Features and More