Apple WWDC Visual Tour: First Look At iCloud, Lion, iOS 5, And MoreApple WWDC Visual Tour: First Look At iCloud, Lion, iOS 5, And More

For Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco, the Apple logo adorned the Moscone Center's glass curtain wall in a look reminiscent of an Apple Store.

Apple typically does not pre-announce products, but it did so nevertheless several days ago. The company confirmed that CEO Steve Jobs, despite being on medical leave, would deliver the keynote address at WWDC and that details about iCloud would be revealed alongside news about the expected operating system revisions.

This may be because iCloud is critical to Apple's future. Cloud-based services have become hugely important, but Apple has yet to field a compelling offering in this area. The company needs to show that it can compete as effectively in the cloud as it does in hardware and software, particularly given Google's cloud competency. Apple is said to have signed deals with four major music companies and Jobs is likely to highlight these partnerships to underscore the value of an ecosystem with broad industry support, something neither Google's nor Amazon's cloud music services enjoy.

Apple is said to be readying a revision of its Time Capsule wireless router and backup device, presumably to take advantage of forthcoming file management capabilities.

Wireless file synchronization between iOS devices and iCloud is almost a given: Google has made a point of ridiculing the iPhone's dependence on tethered USB synchronization when touting the virtues of Android devices. Apple isn't likely to let that taunt go unanswered.

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