By: Teddy The Tech Guy

As the summer draws to a close, when most people are saying “Aww”, Teddy the Tech Guy is tweeting tons of #fistpumps and gleefully shouting, “Yes!” Don’t get me wrong, I love the summer as much as the next guy, but the fall is what I prepare for and, oh boy, this fall is setting up to be a great one. Now, while the rest of the EXUDE team is gearing up for a great fall fashion season, full of shows, exclusive events, and giveaways, Teddy the Tech Guy is preparing for one of the biggest tech seasons to date. From iCloud and the anticipated iPhone5 by Apple, to a new way fashion is meeting technology head-on through an app called Instagram, this fall season is going to be an impressive one.

Now let’s talk clouds!

When I say clouds, the first thing some people think are nice fluffy white balls of cotton floating through the sky, or even the dark gray ones that we dread especially if we’re without an umbrella. But, the cloud I’m referring to isn’t even close to that, but can help you understand a somewhat new, bold and innovative service called iCloud:

Although cloud computing service is not a new concept, Apple’s iCloud is kind of new. Why kind of? Well, iCloud is actually taking the place of Apples previous attempts called MobileMe, .Mac and iTools. As a Mac guy myself, I have had both .Mac and MobileMe, but iCloud dares to take this concept to another level.

Here’s how it works:

Write now I’m working on this article to hand to my editor before she goes postal, but I know I can’t stay in front of my Macbook Pro (or PC, whatever you have) all day and I don’t have time to lug it around with me. What I do have is my trusty iPhone and my iPad. So, before leaving home I save it to my iCloud and walk out the door. While on the way to work, whether it be bus, train, or car-pooling as I sometimes do (I’m not driving of course), I can access the same document I just saved via my iPhone or my iPad. I can make any changes I need to and hit save and voilá!

Now, you may be wondering, “How is that possible?” or wondering what if you’re not around a WIFI spot. I’ve got the answer! In simplest terms, iCloud is one big bag of info housed remotely that can be accessed only by you and the devices you enable it to connect to. So, if you buy a Mac or PC (yes iCloud can work on a PC), set up your iCloud account and then buy an iPhone and/or iPad and enable the apps on those, you would have two to three devices that can access your data. The interesting part is if you don’t have WIFI then hopefully you have 3G enabled on your iPhone/iPad or even have one of those dandy portable hot spot devices. If not, no fear. The document can be accessed when you get to your computer and you can resume where you left off. All changes made will show up on all devices no matter where you made the changes. The coolest thing about iCloud is that it doesn’t just do documents! Take a picture on your iPhone and you can view it instantly on any other connected device, or if you download music or ebooks, all will be instantly viewable to any connected device.

To start out, Apple gives you 5 GB of storage space; that’s roughly 1250 songs, tons of document space, and tons of pictures (pictures will always vary based on MP size). However, if you know you’re going to be a professional cloud user, then you may want to invest in some bigger space and that’s when money matters. Check below to see the upgrade prices:

So, that’s iCloud in a nutshell. Trust me, if it still seems confusing it’s okay—just like any tech item you have got to tinker with it a bit and then it will all make sense.

Teddy The Tech Guy signing off!