Consumer Clouds: Acer Announce AcerCloud

Cloud Computing has been making headlines in the business computing world for some time now. As the technology matures it is interesting to see it now being built into consumer products and used in their associated marketing campaigns too. Last year Apple announced iCloud and Microsoft announced the cloud integration with Windows 8 as two examples. This week Acer have announced AcerCloud. This cloud service will enable users to access all their digital content on any of their computing devices, from phones, to tablets and computers. The AcerCloud uses a combination of local and cloud storage to ensure the content is always available.

AcerCloud has three parts to the service:

1. PicStream for photographs
2. AcerCloud Docs for document management
3. Clear.fi Media for multimedia

AcerCloud is an example of how Cloud Computing technology is being built into consumer devices to make their operation simple yet effective. In most cases the usage of Cloud Computing is transparent to the end user. Photos, for instance, are stored securely yet are shared across all devices without having to manually copy them from device to device. A film purchased on a laptop can be viewed on a tablet or mobile phone whilst travelling. All communication between devices is performed over secure communication channels.

In summary, whilst Cloud Computing has been used by business to improve not only cost but also change and improve the way IT is delivered, momentum is now being gained in the consumer market too. This really highlights the maturity and confidence that is being established in the reliability and security of Cloud Computing. If you are not sure what benefits Cloud Computing can bring to your organisation, or have any concerns, why not consider attending Learning Tree’s Hands-On Cloud Computing course. Here you will learn about the different aspects of Cloud Computing and how it can benefit your organisation, all delivered over three intensive days by a Cloud Computing expert.

Chris Czarnecki

Philips Brings Cloud Computing to Consumer Electronics with CloudTV

This week the Consumer Electronics Show 2011 is running in Las Vegas and it is interesting to see that Philips has announced that is has brought Cloud Computing to home entertainment. The claim is that they will be the first brand to incorporate Cloud Computing into their lineup of televisions. The new CloudTV platform provides access to a number of Web applications such as social networking, user generated video games etc all accessed and navigated with standard remote controls.

This announcement by Philips is an example of Cloud Computing become part of everyday life for may people, in a way that is mainly transparent to them. However, is this really Cloud Computing or is it Philips making the most of the excitement around Cloud Computing to promote their products. I think the answer can be gleaned by going back three months and seeing Philips were prompting what they referred to as NetTV. The details sounded very much (exactly) the same as CloudTV !

I highlight this because it raises the question of what exactly is Cloud Computing? This is something that business and early adopters have been trying to work out for a while now as computing providers brand many products as Cloud Computing trying to increase sales, even when the products are not really Cloud Computing products. It appears now that the consumer market is following a similar trend with the same confusion for their customers.

The reality is that Philips CloudTV is not itself Cloud Computing, in the same way a home PC is not on its own Cloud Computing. What they both do provide is Access to Cloud Computing – they are a client to Cloud Computing, enabling users to access Cloud Computing applications and facilities. Vendors are not making it easy for people to determine exactly what Cloud Computing is and what the benefits are. That is why Learning Tree has developed the Cloud Computing Course, not only to define exactly what Cloud Computing is, but also to present its advantages and disadvantages. For those who want to know more but are time constrained, there is also the half day overview that can be attended remotely from your office or maybe from your home, using your TV if you have CloudTV !

Chris