Apple iCloud

It will be the most systematic and advanced cloud service ever. Apple introduced iCloud along with its new version of mobile OS and Mac OS respectively iOS 5 and Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. Apple iCloud is a state-of-the-art facility to automatically upload contents from mobile devices to cloud servers.

Once you take an image using your iOS 5 device, it will be pushed to the cloud servers, thus enabling access to the photo from any iOS 5 and Mac OS Lion devices from anywhere in the world. iCloud works with any iOS 5 and Mac OS X Lion devices that include iPhone 4S, 4, 3GS, iPad 2, iPad original, latest models of iPod touch, MacBook Airs, MacBook Pro and even Apple TV.

Storage cost: iCloud avails 5GB of storage for free. Additional storage needs to be purchased in tiers of 10, 20, or 50GBs for $20 10GB per year. 50GB is the maximum limit.

Google cloud service

Google has been in cloud computing for a long period. We have been long familiar with Google Docs, a cloud alternative to Microsoft Office package. It is a service where we can use Docs, Spreadsheet and others on the web. As you edit contents in these applications they will automatically be stored in cloud servers.

Google has now extended all its cloud services to its Android phones. Even not being as systematic as iCloud you have options to store all kinds of data to cloud services. For audio data, Google has a special Google Music feature, which competes with Apple iTunes and Amazon Music Player.

Storage cost: Free. Google extends its storage service for free of cost.

Amazon Cloud Drive

Like Google, Amazon has also been in cloud computing for several years. But the online vendor launched its Cloud Drive web storage in March, 2011. The company now offers unlimited cloud storage support for its recently unveiled Kindle Fire, which has only 8GB of on-device memory.

Amazon also has a famous Cloud Player music streaming service. The leading vendor of digital contents lets users stream audio contents on its Cloud Player on various devices. Amazon Cloud Drive can be accessed from any computers or Android devices with Internet connectivity.

Storage Cost: Cloud Drive provides 5GB space for free. For further storage, you have to pay one dollar for per gigabyte every year.

Windows Live SkyDrive

SkyDrive is Microsoft’s cloud storage service. The Redmond software giant unveiled its cloud storage service in August 2007. Microsoft has recently started to avail cloud service on its Windows Phone-enabled smartphones. In rivalry to Apple iCloud, Microsoft integrated a revamped SkyDrive feature with its Windows Phone 7.5 Mango version. Now you can store any data in cloud servers on a WP7.5 smartphone. You can access the service using your Windows Live ID to store, manage and retrieve data.

Storage Cost: Microsoft offers 25GB of storage for free.

Dropbox

Dropbox is a leading independent web-based cloud storage service. Different from the items mentioned above, Dropbox runs on any smartphone, tablet or computer. You just have to install Dropbox client app in your device to store data in its cloud service. You have to drag files to a Dropbox folder, which will automatically sync the data with its cloud servers. Dropbox was founded in 2007 by a team of MIT graduates Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi. Dropbox runs on all major gadgets with Android, Windows Phone 7, iPhone, iPad and BlackBerry and many others.

Storage Cost: Dropbox follows the freemium mode for charging customers. Initially, it offers 2GB of free storage. A user who refers Dropbox to his/her friends will get up to 8GB of extra free storage.