The new Apple iOS 5 includes iMessage and iCloud, probably the most talked about offerings of the new OS aside from the talking personal assistant, Siri.  The features are impressive but it seems like not everyone is happy about it.  But iMessage and iCloud enable Apple to better compete in the mobile space by enhancing device capabilities from the ground up.  Is this the right strategy for Apple?  Let’s look deeper at the new software updates.

iMessage

If you don’t know what it is, maybe you’re a fan of RIM’s BlackBerry, iMessage is for Apple as BlackBerry Messaging is for BlackBerry.  So yeah, it’s exclusive for iPhone, iPad and iPod users.  It’s the free text messaging service that Apple users can utilize by connecting their device to the internet via Wi-Fi or cellular data connection.  This is very beneficial for consumers as this lessens your monthly bill for text messaging.  Unfortunately, this would be quite detrimental for network carriers that like to charge for this type of data exchange.

Traditional text messages go through cellular networks, which cost as much as 20 cents to transmit and another 20 cents to receive just one text message, but with services like iMessage and BBM, texts are transmitted over the carrier’s data network and then the internet, which falls under a consumer’s wireless data plan.

“At ¢20 and 160 characters per message, wireless customers are paying roughly $1,500 to send a megabyte of text traffic over the cell network,” this report outlines.  “By comparison, the cost to send that same amount of data using a $25-a-month, two-gigabyte data plan works out to ¢1.25.”

Though iMessage seems like a great way to save up on bucks, the service cannot be used to send text messages to non-Apple contacts.  But with services like iMessage, BBM, Skype, Google Talk, AOL Instant Messenger and Windows Live Messenger that relies on data plans and Wi-Fi connectivity, threatening to affect the $7 billion-a-year revenue from text messaging of cellular providers, they could opt to increase call and data plans to maintain their high revenue.

iCloud

“iCloud stores your music, photos, documents, and more and wirelessly pushes them to all your devices. Automatic, effortless, and seamless — it just works.” – Apple

If you think about that line, it seems like Apple aims to make data storage and sharing feel as if you’re walking on the clouds, but is everything really that simple and secure?

iCloud links up to 10 devices without the need to physically connect these devices to your computer via a USB wire.  It all syncs and updates in the cloud, and users will have 5GB of storage for free, which they can upgrade to 10GB for $20/year, all the way up to $100/year for 55GB of storage.  Though other services like Dropbox and Amazon offer a similar service, iCloud is far more integrated with the Apple product lineup.  iCloud is different in some ways, as it is quite beneficial for app developers who can store high scores and other app data in the iCloud, eliminating the need to build a site for this purpose.

“Other cloud platforms have some of the services that iCloud will have, but not everything… Though we’re used to using multiple services for different products, having to log into different sites for all these services can complicate life,” says Brian Greenberg, CEO of storage vendor General Systems Dynamics.

The drawback though, just like the iMessage, is that iCloud is mostly an Apple thing.   iCloud currently offers no support forGoogle Android, BlackBerry or Windows Phone devices.  Also, as it boasts automatic push for all connected devices, there’s a risk for security breech as sensitive data sent to your office Mac will be pushed to all your Apple devices, which are all connected to the iCloud, and these devices can fall to the wrong hands just by simply forgetting your device at a coffee shop or in a cab.  App developers are questioning the security of the iCloud as Apple has yet disclosed further information regarding this.

“We’re in the developer program, and they haven’t shared anything with us, either,” says Jim Prothe, senior marketing manager, at cloud consulting firm Model Metrics. “Unfortunately, Apple has not been as forthcoming about iCloud security as it has been for previous issues of iOS. I haven’t seen any resources made available yet for iOS 5 and iCloud.”