Apple assembling team to build 'the future of cloud services'

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Apple is building a small team to write software which will lay the groundwork for the company's future Web services, which it has advertised as "the future" of its cloud-based offerings.



Apple this week posted a new job listing for the position of "Cloud Systems Software Engineer." Discovered by AppleInsider, the full-time role at the company's Cupertino, Calif., campus will join a "small team" that is said to be building "the future of cloud services at Apple."



That small team writes "software which forms the foundation" for some of Apple's "most exciting new products and services," the job listing reads. In keeping with Apple's legendary secrecy, the listing does not reveal what services the company's cloud-driven future will include.



The iPhone maker is looking to hire an engineer with experiencing in scalable and extensible systems. The ideal candidate will collaborate with other engineering teams at Apple to build the platform frameworks and systems that will power Apple's next-generation Web services.



Apple has offered cloud-based services for some time with its $99-per-year MobileMe service. But according to The Wall Street Journal, Apple is expected to unveil an enhanced version of MobileMe this year, featuring a digital "locker" that would store personal files such as photos, music and videos. That content could be streamed to Internet-connected devices like iPhones, eliminating the need for a large amount of local memory on devices.







In particular, Apple is believed to be working on a cloud-based music service that would allow users to stream their music from anywhere. Such a product could be powered by Apple's new massive data center in North Carolina, expected to go online this spring.



This week's latest job listing from Apple comes only months after the company sought to add software engineers to its iOS development team with an emphasis on remote storage for data access. Cloud support is rumored to be a major component of iOS 5, the next major version of Apple's mobile operating system for the iPhone and iPad. One report from March said Apple plans to release iOS 5 this fall.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 33
    My bet is that cloud will be an integral part of the O/S and Apple will lead that.



    It will start with your music,video, pictures. Than your ios+local apps (with preferences and save files). And then Computer setup (remember your OS setup). Thats why Apple is easy with offering SSD harddisks in their top tier products.(form my HN post)



    It might start with a simple service but some time in future the possibilities of cloud will change OS landscape in a disruptive way.
  • Reply 2 of 33
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Cloud services - is that the new name for web services? If so it won't be a very interesting job: on the back end lots of database queries, xml generating/parsing, and HTTP transactions. On the client side lots of HTML/CSS/Javascript. Nothing really rocket-sciency except when you go to scale.



    The guy who gets this job will think it's his dream come true, finally getting to work for the big A, and then it will be lots of tedious boilerplate code.
  • Reply 3 of 33
    pxtpxt Posts: 683member
    I would like it if cloud could mean 'personal cloud', in order to enable at the content and application level the ecosystem that Apple have created in hardware.



    This would mean that I could point to my own Macs as hosts, such as a mini or mac pro sitting at home. For other content I may well point at Apple ( say email ).



    Then I can choose where the ownership of my data lies, while still having mobility.



    My personal cloud could then be set up to sync the content where i want it to be proactively, but allow me to catch the bits I miss by direct access. Plus do logic so I have the right number of backups of each file regardless of the number of copies in my cloud.



    Perhaps something along the lines of Smart Everything, with the cloud using the definitions to sync the content.

    So my Macbook Air would have only Smart folders, Smart playlists, Smart mailboxes, etc. But still have full versions of the apps.
  • Reply 4 of 33
    I love all this cloud talk, but won't internet availability still be a bottleneck?



    3G has decent coverage but it's not fast enough.

    "4G" is fast enough but it doesn't have enough coverage.



    I don't want my music in the cloud if I won't always have it exactly when I want it.

    I don't want my movies in the cloud if I'm on the road in the backseat going in and out of service.

    I don't want my photos in the cloud if I have to make somebody wait while I try to show them that one picture.



    Let's just hope technology catches up to Steve's aspirations...
  • Reply 5 of 33
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by brutus009 View Post


    I love all this cloud talk, but won't internet availability still be a bottleneck?



    3G has decent coverage but it's not fast enough.

    "4G" is fast enough but it doesn't have enough coverage.



    I don't want my music in the cloud if I won't always have it exactly when I want it.

    I don't want my movies in the cloud if I'm on the road in the backseat going in and out of service.

    I don't want my photos in the cloud if I have to make somebody wait while I try to show them that one picture.



    Let's just hope technology catches up to Steve's aspirations...



    Why do you assume that offering internet-based services means you?ll have no local access to your own data?
  • Reply 6 of 33
    tundraboytundraboy Posts: 1,882member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by brutus009 View Post


    I love all this cloud talk, but won't internet availability still be a bottleneck?



    3G has decent coverage but it's not fast enough.

    "4G" is fast enough but it doesn't have enough coverage.



    I don't want my music in the cloud if I won't always have it exactly when I want it.

    I don't want my movies in the cloud if I'm on the road in the backseat going in and out of service.

    I don't want my photos in the cloud if I have to make somebody wait while I try to show them that one picture.



    Let's just hope technology catches up to Steve's aspirations...



    You are right, but if you have to wait for bandwidth to expand before you start gearing up for cloud computing, then you've already been left behind. You might as well rename your company Microsoft II.
  • Reply 7 of 33
    tundraboytundraboy Posts: 1,882member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ascii View Post


    Cloud services - is that the new name for web services? If so it won't be a very interesting job: on the back end lots of database queries, xml generating/parsing, and HTTP transactions. On the client side lots of HTML/CSS/Javascript. Nothing really rocket-sciency except when you go to scale.



    The guy who gets this job will think it's his dream come true, finally getting to work for the big A, and then it will be lots of tedious boilerplate code.



    I suppose that type of job would be tedious anywhere, at least with Apple the presumption is there would be greater demand and room for innovation. If management is always looking to push the technological envelope, then if you find yourself performing mundane tasks, it's really up to you to make it interesting by coming up with your own innovations and presenting them to management. I strongly believe that if a company is open to new ideas and innovations from their employees, then there is no such thing as a boring job in that company.
  • Reply 8 of 33
    Apple seriously needs to start putting together some division that doesn't depend on hardware for revenue. Hardware numbers are too much of a focus for this stock and speculation over delays or sales is only harming investors. If Apple can put up some serious numbers like Netflix does without using hardware then the company may not be manipulated as easily. Cloud storage and content streaming would produce a steady revenue flow. Netflix supposedly has a client database of about 12 million. If Apple could double or even triple that number using the iTunes client database, Apple could really be rocking some serious revenue numbers. All Apple would have to do is continually make content provider deals and upgrade their data servers from time to time. Apple would no longer have to depend on hit products every six months or so. Apple already has the products in place and the data center would support them. It seems like a no-brainer for Apple to win the streaming market share right from the get-go.
  • Reply 9 of 33
    eaieai Posts: 417member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Constable Odo View Post


    Apple seriously needs to start putting together some division that doesn't depend on hardware for revenue. Hardware numbers are too much of a focus for this stock and speculation over delays or sales is only harming investors. If Apple can put up some serious numbers like Netflix does without using hardware then the company may not be manipulated as easily. Cloud storage and content streaming would produce a steady revenue flow. Netflix supposedly has a client database of about 12 million. If Apple could double or even triple that number using the iTunes client database, Apple could really be rocking some serious revenue numbers. All Apple would have to do is continually make content provider deals and upgrade their data servers from time to time. Apple would no longer have to depend on hit products every six months or so. Apple already has the products in place and the data center would support them. It seems like a no-brainer for Apple to win the streaming market share right from the get-go.



    Apple claim to have 200 million iTunes account holders with credit cards attached, which kind of trumps Netflix's 12 million.
  • Reply 10 of 33
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by PXT View Post


    Smart Everything, with the cloud using the definitions to sync the content.



    I'd put my money on this being the route Apple takes. Much like iTunes syncs content to iDevices, Apple's cloud solution will sync content, including apps, media, and files, to web apps, Macs, iDevices, AppleTVs, and anything else Apple has in the pipeline. Everything will be an iDisk, with selective sync based on preferences for that particular device or computer.
  • Reply 11 of 33
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Constable Odo View Post


    Apple seriously needs to start putting together some division that doesn't depend on hardware for revenue. Hardware numbers are too much of a focus for this stock and speculation over delays or sales is only harming investors. If Apple can put up some serious numbers like Netflix does without using hardware then the company may not be manipulated as easily. Cloud storage and content streaming would produce a steady revenue flow. Netflix supposedly has a client database of about 12 million. If Apple could double or even triple that number using the iTunes client database, Apple could really be rocking some serious revenue numbers. All Apple would have to do is continually make content provider deals and upgrade their data servers from time to time. Apple would no longer have to depend on hit products every six months or so. Apple already has the products in place and the data center would support them. It seems like a no-brainer for Apple to win the streaming market share right from the get-go.



    They already far outstrip Netflix 12 million in iTunes alone. So the focus is hardly solely on the hardware side of the house for their development. Remember that Apple is a hybrid business model - not dedicated - in spite of all the pundit calls for Apple to divest either software/OS or hardware in order to "purify their essence". iTunes is a sophisticated ecosystem, despite the rather prosaic and mundane GUI. Apple is well-positioned to offer not just cloud-based systems, but the right combination of hardware, local storage, local network interaction and cloud or internet interaction. To pull all these parts together into an homogenous integrated whole would be a solid benchmark indeed. Leaving the enduser the flexibility to host data and applications from NAS or local computers, internet/cloud services to mobile devices and vice versa seamlessly. It is just a matter of time and talent.
  • Reply 12 of 33
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Constable Odo View Post


    Apple seriously needs to start putting together some division that doesn't depend on hardware for revenue. Hardware numbers are too much of a focus for this stock and speculation over delays or sales is only harming investors. If Apple can put up some serious numbers like Netflix does without using hardware then the company may not be manipulated as easily. Cloud storage and content streaming would produce a steady revenue flow. Netflix supposedly has a client database of about 12 million. If Apple could double or even triple that number using the iTunes client database, Apple could really be rocking some serious revenue numbers. All Apple would have to do is continually make content provider deals and upgrade their data servers from time to time. Apple would no longer have to depend on hit products every six months or so. Apple already has the products in place and the data center would support them. It seems like a no-brainer for Apple to win the streaming market share right from the get-go.



    Come on! Gotta do a little research. Last quarter Netflix reported 20M subscribers. Based on that number I?d say it?s about about 15-20% of US households with Netflix accounts. Netflix also brought in a record $596 millon in revenue.



    Now compare that with Apple?s last quarter with $1,100 million in revenue coming from iTunes along. That?s almost double Netflix?s revenue for all their services and excludes all of Apple?s other non-HW revenue, like Mac OS X, iLife, iWork, professional apps, AppleCare (and I think I?m forgetting some).
  • Reply 13 of 33
    macinthe408macinthe408 Posts: 1,050member
    Wow, this new hire has only a few months to get this up and running from scratch.
  • Reply 14 of 33
    paul94544paul94544 Posts: 1,027member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Come on! Gotta do a little research. Last quarter Netflix reported 20M subscribers. Based on that number I?d say it?s about about 15-20% of US households with Netflix accounts. Netflix also brought in a record $596 millon in revenue.



    Now compare that with Apple?s last quarter with $1,100 million in revenue coming from iTunes along. That?s almost double Netflix?s revenue for all their services and excludes all of Apple?s other non-HW revenue, like Mac OS X, iLife, iWork, professional apps, AppleCare (and I think I?m forgetting some).



    AAPL

    Last Trade: 333.02

    1y Target Est: 424.80

    Market Cap: 306.80B

    P/E (ttm): 18.58

    EPS (ttm): 17.92



    Netflix

    Last Trade: 233.73

    1y Target Est: 221.91

    Market Cap: 12.36B

    P/E (ttm): 78.96

    EPS (ttm): 2.96



    I don't think Netflix is a buy right now, the easy money has been made on it, that PE ratio is too damned high for me and I don't think its potential growth will come to make it a buy right now
  • Reply 15 of 33
    cgc0202cgc0202 Posts: 624member
    Won't it be amazing if Apple accepts (with some more lenient curation to ensure adherence to Apple policies) the creations of Apple products consumers -- videos, including short movies (from iMovie creations) and cartoon clips, images (including creations using iOS Apps and Apple Apps), music (from GarageBand creations as well as those created from iOS Apps), etc. to be viewed by the general public,



    This will further enrich the "Apple Ecosystem" that has been gradually and carefully created by Apple through the years. Also, by allowing the general public (not just Apple product users) to view the creations would be the equivalent of "free advertising" to show to everyone "see how great the Apple Ecosystem is" and "how creative the users of Apple products and Apps" -- non-stop advertising without having to pay any advertising agencies nor to mass media networks that Apple rely on mainly right now.



    There is no reason why Apple products consumers using their devices simply posts their creations to You Tube, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter. If I am not mistaken, Apple products users are significant, if not among the major contributors to many of the aforementioned sites.



    Ping Social Network and Gaming Network.
    Further, Apple should integrate and generate interaction among creators and viewers by integrating the above creations with Ping. And, why not make this even tighter by also integrating the Gaming Network as a sub-genre of social networking.



    That would be like Apple having the equivalent of You Tube, Flickr and music and short movies and other creations without needing to depend on the networks, music labels and other current controllers of created mass media.



    Incentives for better creations. It would be free for viewing with some well-placed but non-intrussive iAds, i..e., the choice to view the iAds would be an option by viewers. The revenue from the latter would be given to the creators. This would be like "royalty fee" without all the legalities that tie-up copyrighted creations.



    Right now, those other sites (Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, etc.) do not share their ad revenues with the creators, In fact, in the case of Flickr, they even charge contributors, if they exceed more than 200 images. So, Apple will provide a twist if it gives away all the revenues (after expenses) from the iAds to creators. This would be a twist that Apple could intriduce that is much better than the status quo in Flickr, YouTube and Facebook -- where the hosting companies reap all the profit from the creations of others.



    I bet many individuals can do better jobs than some of those produced by current media creators.



    Then to stimulate further creativity, there will be contests in various modes of creations. This will encourage individuals to create even better.



    Free email.
    Apple is doing this partly already with MobileMe users posting their creations in their respective sites. Add free email to all Apple products consumers, and Apple have instantly created a rival to Facebook, Yahoo, Google.





    CGC
  • Reply 16 of 33
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by fecklesstechguy View Post


    [....] Remember that Apple is a hybrid business model - not dedicated - in spite of all the pundit calls for Apple to divest either software/OS or hardware in order to "purify their essence". iTunes is a sophisticated ecosystem, despite the rather prosaic and mundane GUI. Apple is well-positioned to offer not just cloud-based systems, but the right combination of hardware, local storage, local network interaction and cloud or internet interaction. To pull all these parts together into an homogenous integrated whole would be a solid benchmark indeed. Leaving the enduser the flexibility to host data and applications from NAS or local computers, internet/cloud services to mobile devices and vice versa seamlessly. It is just a matter of time and talent.



    ++1



    Apple is an 'experience' producer... for the rest of us. How many of us are surprised to see a 5 year old 'groking' an iPad, or 75yo tooling around the lake on their bike and their iPod.



    If you eliminate going to best buy to buy a CD, blockbuster to rent a movie, Borders to buy a book, your local cable provider to watch TV, what else can you do? to wit:



    - Storage/backups. Why not 'mirror' local storage on the net? All of sudden a Mac Server or a Time Capsule becomes a 'virtually infinite storage server' providing secure/speedy Local (household/LAN) and internet-based accesses, along with 'sync on the fly' stuff... ("honey, I just took a wonderful picture of the cat... wanna see it?") No email, no upload, no dropbox... it's 'just there' for everyone who is on your appleID authorized list.



    - facetime/Conferencing - Webex for families/small business.



    - family tracking (find your iPhone on steroids). You may think it's a privacy thing... but to most parents... as long as I'm paying your phone bill I get the right to know where you are.



    - sharepoint/Google Docs for families/small businessses. yes, other companies have it, but why not just have it integrated into your apple experience.



    Again, most will say, "Apple isn't inventing anything" But once you integrate it into the HW, base app set... it becomes like the radio in your car... It's part of the experience, integrated into the dashboard, steering wheel, and power system.
  • Reply 17 of 33
    sacto joesacto joe Posts: 895member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Constable Odo View Post


    Apple seriously needs to start putting together some division that doesn't depend on hardware for revenue. Hardware numbers are too much of a focus for this stock and speculation over delays or sales is only harming investors.



    "Harmng investors"? Hardly. Short term players will always get shafted by the market, unless they really know what they're doing. Personally, I recommend buying Apple and sticking it in a drawer for at least two years. You really have no conception of the nature of Apple if you think that what's going on right now in the market has any bearing at all on the worth of Apple stock. As regular as clockwork, the big players and the short players dream up reasons why Apple is overvalued, usually just before earnings are released.



    This time, they've gone a step farther and questioned Apple's ability to sustain production into the 3rd Quarter. Sheer speculation, of course, but sufficient to sow a small seed of doubt that this quarter's massive earnings will be anything but a fluke. They aren't and they know it, but if they can panic the hooples into selling then they can pick up shares on the cheap. And frankly, anything under $400/share is cheap.



    Keep your eye on the P/E ratio. After next week, it'll hit a low it hasn't seen since the depths of the Great Recession, barring a last minute runup on the stock price to a new high for the year.
  • Reply 18 of 33
    myapplelovemyapplelove Posts: 1,515member
    I am not happy with this, this team should have been there a couple of years ago at least...
  • Reply 19 of 33
    cgc0202cgc0202 Posts: 624member
    You forgot "One-to-One" at $99 per year, it is the best secret bargain of Apple. This includes:
    1. One-to-One tutorials

    2. Group Seminars

    3. Independent Project sessions

    going on from 10 am to 8pm seven days each week. This is on top of the free regular seminars and Spotlight to showcase creators -- open to the general public.





    I am hooked. I am learning so much that I will renew it. Judging from participation in the Boylston Apple Store alone, it is very popular. It is also becoming another social network. The tutor last night for the Aperture (a 4-session once a week series) was saying after the "class" that there was already a "hookup" among some of the participants. Some in our group are also exchaning phone numbers to further strengthen the relationships among Apple products users.



    This is a huge investment by Apple that may not breakeven because of the high cost of hiring all those certified staff (each has to pass a certification test for the focus product they are allowed to tutor or lecture) but in the long run, this is the kind of investment that will further entice people to stick to the Apple Ecosystem.



    CGC



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Come on! Gotta do a little research. Last quarter Netflix reported 20M subscribers. Based on that number I’d say it’s about about 15-20% of US households with Netflix accounts. Netflix also brought in a record $596 millon in revenue.



    Now compare that with Apple’s last quarter with $1,100 million in revenue coming from iTunes along. That’s almost double Netflix’s revenue for all their services and excludes all of Apple’s other non-HW revenue, like Mac OS X, iLife, iWork, professional apps, AppleCare (and I think I’m forgetting some).





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by myapplelove View Post


    I am not happy with this, this team should have been there a couple of years ago at least...



    I doubt very much that Apple started doing this only right now. This article from Apple Insider is based on a flimsy discovery of an ad for a position by Apple. Apple Insider does this all the time -- shoddy speculation.



    Do you really think that Apple invested initially $1 billion for the initial plan (and then doubled the space) almost two years ago already without any long term plan? Didn't you read about the Vice President (???) of Apple who died who was spearheading this venture?



    CGC
  • Reply 20 of 33
    irontedironted Posts: 129member
    I believe you could access the cloud services from the Smart TV which will debut this year. Of course I hope it wouldn't be named Smart TV because that's not what I suggested to Steve. Very exciting time indeed! I hope someone will spare me more change to buy Apple stock.
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