Linked List: June 6, 2011

Monday, 6 June 2011

iMessage 

Jordan Golson for MacRumors:

If it sounds like BBM, RIM’s BlackBerry Messaging service, that’s because, well, it sounds a lot like BBM actually — and increases device lock-in as well.

It also means iPhone users with iPhone-using friends and family no longer need SMS. I’ll cancel my SMS plan as soon as this ships.

(A well-informed little birdie tells me that Apple’s phone carrier partners around the world found out about iMessages when we did: during today’s keynote.)

Apple’s Press Release for iCloud 

Note that they don’t use the word “sync”. I’m pretty sure they never once uttered “sync” during the keynote today either. The verbs they use are store and push.

The gist is that Apple considers syncing to mean peer-to-peer — something where every device is on equal footing. With iCloud, there is one official data store: iCloud’s. As Jobs put it on stage, iCloud’s data is “the truth”. This means no conflicts or merging. What you see is what iCloud has stored on a server in North Carolina.

Whither MobileMe? 

Apple stopped taking new signups today, but will keep it running until next June.