Forecast: partly cloudy

The iPhone App Store stole headlines last week, but it’s the ever-growing cloud above that ultimately will be more important to developers of mobile consumer applications.
Cloud computing – applications “in the sky” accessed through the Internet, as opposed to native applications – is not exactly new, of course. Google, for one, has tinkered with cloud-based solutions such as Google Docs, a hosted service that allows users to access and share documents through the ether without having to weigh down a PC with a native application.
But the cloud grew a bit last week, expanding noticeably into mobile: Nokia expanded its Ovi umbrella of mobile offerings with Files, a subscription-based cloud storage service designed to serve as a digital content locker. A few days later – and with predictably more fanfare – Apple introduced MobileMe, a $99-per-year service that synchs e-mail, contacts and other information between computers and iPhones and iPod touch devices.
Cloud-computing’s advantages in the world of wireless are obvious. An umbrella, Internet-based scenario allows developers to build cross-platform applications that leverage the strengths of each device while marginalizing limitations – a consumer can use a PC for complicated tasks like creating an account or customizing content, then access that content on the go without drilling down through countless user-interface menus. Also, cloud-based apps eliminate the need to burden the phone with bulky downloads that can quickly eat up the device’s memory.
But MobileMe’s launch underscored a couple of the major vulnerabilities of the cloud. The service stumbled out of the gate, preventing users from logging onto their accounts, and prompting a fusillade on blogs and online message boards from outraged users. That blunder was followed by complaints that Apple had oversold and under-delivered regarding the synch feature, delivering changes to the mobile only every 15 minutes instead of in real time.
Those glitches are unacceptable, of course, in the business world. And the cloud faces other obstacles in its quest to enshroud enterprise: In a world where Sarbanes-Oxley holds corporations highly accountable for their data, executives will be circumspect of any system that asks them to hand the stuff over to a third-party who does business in the sky. It may be difficult to segregate data or investigate illegal activity in the cloud, as Gartner recently pointed out, and the scenario adds a murky layer to be penetrated if data must be recovered following a disaster.
Many of those weaknesses are sure to be addressed in the coming years, eventually giving businesses an efficient way to off-load the heavy lifting required in the digital world. For mobile developers, though, the cloud is here. While most wireless users have yet to connect their device to anything other than a power cord, consumers may be warming to the idea of using applications and accessing their Internet on their phone – despite the fact that doing so often isn’t easy. Making it less painful to consume digital entertainment on the phone – and integrating the stuff with the PC – is sure to only spur that growth.