While the ASUS Padfone and ASUS FonePad have received more than their fair share of media attention and adulation, the cloud strategy announced by ASUS on 25 February at Mobile World Congress has not been delved into as deeply, perhaps because people forget that cloud is just as cool as gadgetry.
The ASUS Open Cloud Computing Platform has been developed slowly and carefully over a period of years and the focus is on an open and balanced architecture that will ensure that the solution is crisp, responsive and ubiquitous.
The AOCC is compatible with a wide range of operating systems including Windows and Android, and it aggregates cloud storage from different providers into a single, unified service. This simplifies how people share images and other media with multiple devices on a staggering scale. Instead of a thousand logins and rules, you get only one.
The ASUS Open Cloud Computing idea has help and troubleshooting tools to assist users in tackling a wide range of issues that can come about while working with the cloud, and it is broken down into four distinct services: AOCloud, AOLink, AOStream and AOHelp.
The AOCloud aggregates cloud storage services from ASUS and other service providers into a single virtual service with a single login. So much easier than the 12 logins we usually use. AOCloud uses ASUS AiCloud and compatible ASUS routers for personal cloud storage that can be accessed from a range of devices and locations.
AOLink works with AOCloud to stream audio, video and images between devices and services. AOStream – and this one I love – is your personal journal for photos and web clippings. Fantastic. AOHelp is self-explanatory, really, as it helps you fix any issues you may have.
It looks like ASUS is one of the few companies stepping up to take advantage of the cloud and the huge range of services it can potentially offer.
Tamsin