If Microsoft’s plans roll out smoothly with their “cloud” ideas, SkyBox could be greater than MobileMe. Granted, MobileMe had a very rocky start, but issues aside, it is now fairly reliable and easy to use. The “sky” titled services will be geared towards not only Windows devices, but many devices from different manufacturers. It is Microsoft’s attempt to bring in more users to the Windows world and emulate some of the “closeness” Apple markets with their many services.
- The first product in Microsoft’s new service is SkyBox. SkyBox will sync SMS/Email, contacts, calendar items, and pictures from cloud to ground and vice versa. Again, the difference between MobileMe and SkyBox is that SkyBox will work on many mobile manufacturer’s devices.
- The second, SkyLine, will be geared towards business users. SkyLine will allow them to set up their phones with Microsoft Exchange and hosting with their own domain names.
- And thirdly, SkyMarket. SkyMarket will be The Big Red’s response and answer to Apple’s App Store. This service will be limited to Windows Mobile devices and will showcase the 1000′s of WinMo apps that are currently available as well as many that are to come.
So there you have it. A great plan on paper, but as Apple showed us, don’t celebrate too early, or bite off more than you can chew. We will have to wait and see how Microsoft rolls the Sky services out and see if they learned from Apple’s mistakes.
