I will offer a counterpoint to Tabetha’s post. What does iCloud mean for the users and developers of non-IOS phones, ie. Android? Many see iCloud as Apple’s assault to stem the dominance Android has shown over the past year. The Android platform has surpassed the iOS platform in terms of numbers of devices due to its open-platform while Apple’s market 
share has stayed relatively flat (source: comScore MobiLens). Starting from behind, the Android platform has been playing catch-up to the iPhone/iPad in terms of features and has about leveled the playing field. Both have had great success in making the smartphone device an integral part of our lives. However, this “always-connected” world we have come to expect has now shifted to the integration of data and media among devices. This is evident with the success of consumer-based cloud storage services as DropBox. Apple has seen this as a way to stem the power of the Android platform by offering up their ability to make everything on the Apple platform work with iCloud seamlessly (Apple’s patented “it just works” theme) across mail, documents, calendar, photos, and music. How will Android/Google respond?
Google has a head-start in terms of server infrastructure and data center support but the challenge with an open-platform is to integrate multiple divergent systems into a cohesive whole. They offer the underpinnings of a serious challenge to Apple with Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Music Beta and Google Docs. However, to this point, Google does not offer the backend services to their server infrastructure to allow developers to tie it all together into a cohesive whole which is what consumers want. I expect Google to take a page from the Microsoft playbook and announce enhancements to their offerings in the coming months in order to reassure both Android users and developers that they will not be on the outside looking in.
