iCloud, the online streaming service that Apple should launch tomorrow and that should replace MobileMe, may work differently than the rumors have presented it so far. For those who don't know yet, Time Capsule is an Apple product that backs up users' Macs using the Time Machine feature in Mac OS X. That backup can be used later by the user in case he lost files or wants to reinstall the operating system. A few days ago, the first rumors appeared indicating that Apple will launch a new version of the Time Capsule that will have an A4/A5 processor, but then no one knew what this product would do.
Well those from cult of mac they managed to find out and it seems that Time Capsule will be integrated into the iCloud concept. The idea sounds something like this: Time Capsule will automatically save absolutely everything from our Mac and will turn from a backup solution into an online server. Home Folder is called the concept of those from Apple and it assumes that all the information from our Mac is saved in Time Capsule from where it can be accessed online from any other computer or iDevice. Practically Time Capsule becomes our own server and from it we can stream our files both on an iDevice and on another Mac and this will happen even if the Mac on which the files were saved is closed.
According to the source, Apple has developed a system to make users' Time Machine backups available through its new iCloud service.
This is the "Home Folder" access concept that we've detailed before (how it will be accessed using NFC iPhones and the role of the Mac App Store). All your files and data — pictures, videos, Word and Excel documents, and so on — will be available anytime, anywhere, on both Mac OS X and iOS devices.
The surprising thing is, iCloud won't be fed through Apple's massive new data center in North Carolina, as you might expect.
Instead, the system will be based on Time Capsule, Apple's wireless router and hard drive backup that's currently sold in 1TB and 2TB versions. As rumored, Time Capsule will be updated, becoming less of a local backup and more of a personal cloud server, like the newer souped-up NAS (Network Attached Storage) drives from companies like Iomega (we reviewed one here). The new Time Capsule is rumored to run on iOS and come with embedded A4 or A5 CPUs.
iDevices and Macs will be able not only to access the content but also to place another one in the Time Capsule, so basically instead of having an online account on an Apple server, we would have one on our own server, with almost unlimited space. The worst part of this idea is that the Time Capsule must be permanently connected to the Internet and permanently open, otherwise we cannot access anything at all. Basically, from the information presented, the idea emerges that iCloud would be nothing more than an intermediary between our iDevice/Mac and the Time Capsule, that is, the interface through which files are accessed and others are uploaded instead. I find the idea of forcing its users totally strange buy a $299 product just to be able to access the files on the Mac at any time and live in the conditions where Apple has a huge data center that is waiting to be put into operation.
From my point of view, the information presented above probably makes those in Cupertino laugh, but if they are true, then we will see a bigger failure than MobileMe. I for one think that iCloud will be a redesigned MobileMe with more functions and not what I explained above.
