Apple Turning iCloud Into Instagram Wannabe

Apple is planning a complete overhaul for its iCloud service, transforming it from a basic cloud storage service into a photo-sharing service à la Instagram, sources tell the Wall Street Journal. At the moment, iCloud just lets you store a single "photo stream" online and access it from any of your other Apple devices, but the new and improved version will let you share photos with your friends, and comment on your friends' photos, the sources say.

The new iCloud will also handle personal videos and data from Apple's "Notes" and "Reminders" apps. The update could be announced as soon as Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 11. Apple is also rumored to be unveiling iOS 6 sometime in June, so the new iCloud could be part of that. CNET points out that the report sheds new light on iOS chief Phil Schiller's decision to quit using Instagram, which he'd said was because Instagram "jumped the shark" by going to Android. (More iCloud stories.)