The main driver for cloud-based services today is data safekeeping, but as content libraries grow, so will demand, both explicit and implicit, for solutions to organise, manage, and retrieve data, files, and media.

Additionally, allowing consumers easier ways to share content with friends and family as well as across multiple devices can be differentiating factors in a developing market. Consumers will quickly tire of uploading photos to individual sites (Facebook, Flickr, etc.), so having the ability to select specific hosted files and share them with select friends or family members could also distinguish an early-generation cloud-based service.

From the starting point of data backup and synchronisation, personal cloud services over the next few years will increasingly focus on media access and storage. Although services such as Sony's Qriocity are brand-specific, most initiatives are aimed at multibrand/multidevice access to media content. Efforts such as Microsoft's advertisements, with the catchphrase 'to the cloud,' will also help increase consumer awareness and demand.

From the article, "The Rise of the Personal Cloud - From Storage to Streaming Star Wars" by Kurt Scherf, Vice President, Principal Analyst, Parks Associates

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