Apple leads, Dropbox gains in cloud storage wars

Thus, the combination of iCloud and iTunes Match was said to account for 27 percent of cloud storage usage in the United States during the third quarter of 2012.Ed Barton, director of digital media at Strategy Analytics, highlighted in the report how music has become a "key battleground in the war for cloud domination."This primarily pits the tech giants of Apple, Amazon, and Google against each other, given that they arguably have the largest and most successful digital media and entertainment marketplaces online.However, neither Amazon nor Google came in second on this list. That honor went to Dropbox, which doesn't have a dedicated entertainment service whatsoever. (But it was noted that 45 percent of Dropbox users do use the cloud storage lockers for saving music.)Accounting for 17 percent of major cloud media usage in the U.S. last fall, Dropbox skirted past Amazon Cloud Drive by just two percentage points.Barton suggested that this reflects "that an integrated content storefront isn't essential to build a large user base. Nevertheless, he hinted that Dropbox might head in this direction with the prediction that "competition to intensify sharply over the coming years."(Via Engadget)This story originally appeared at ZDNet's Between the Lines under the headline "Strategy Analytics: Apple leads cloud storage wars, but Dropbox is gaining."

Apple launches new MacBook Pros with Ivy Bridge, from $1,199

Apple today launch its new MacBook Pro line.Announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote, the new MacBook Pros will boast third-generation Ivy Bridge processors and the Nvidia GeForce GT650M graphics. The line also includes both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 supportUnlike Apple's next-generation MacBook Pro, its 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros don't come with the Retina display. Instead, the 13-inch version boasts 1,280 x 800 resolution, and comes with the 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor. The 15-inch MacBook Pro offers a larger 1,440 x 900 display and starts out with a 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 chip. Other than that, the differences across Apple's MacBook Pro line aren't all that major. Both the 13- and 15-inch options come with 500GB of storage, and deliver seven hours of battery life. The cheapest 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros start with 4GB of RAM.Check out our Apple WWDC keynote live blog.Apple's new MacBook Pro line starts at $1,199 for the 13-inch option, but can go much higher. The 15-inch MacBook Pro starts off at $1,799. Both devices are available now.Apple's WWDC 2012: iOS 6, Mountain Lion,...See full gallery1 - 4 / 27NextPrevThis story has been updated throughout the morning.This content is rated TV-MA, and is for viewers 18 years or older. Are you of age?YesNoSorry, you are not old enough to view this content.Play