Stuff Gadget Awards 2012 – Cloud App of the Year winner
As far as cloud streaming goes, good old Auntie Beeb has led the way in 2012. During a year in which all of us (even the cynics) went a little wibbly over the Olympics, the BBC remained rock-solid throughout
BBC.co.uk and iPlayer
Free, bbc.co.uk/iplayer
As far as cloud streaming goes, good old Auntie Beeb has led the way in 2012. During a year in which all of us (even the cynics) went a little wibbly over the Olympics, the BBC remained rock-solid throughout. Over those two weeks, the Beeb dominated our lives, broadcasting 24 live-stream channels of mostly obscure sports straight to our TVs, PCs, tablets and smartphones. Successfully integrating Freeview, multi-platform mobile apps and the web meant that the likes of Wiggins, Hoy, Farah and Ennis were flung into the homes of 51.9 million people – 90% of the UK population. That ain’t no cloud; that’s a ruddy great thunderstorm.
Runners-up…
Rdio
Streaming radio from the founders of Skype. It’s got 18 million tracks, putting it on a par with Spotify.
Article too long to read at work? Save it to read later in the day. Or, more likely, read it later in the year.
Brandon Generator
Interactive comic with Stuff cover model Brandon Generator from Edgar ‘Shaun of the Dead’ Wright.
Dropbox
Cloud storage with cross-platform integration has changed how we keep files online, ridding us of pesky email attachment limitations.
Google Drive
The Google Docs expansion gives us 5GB of free storage, with Gmail integration simplifying file-sharing.
Microsoft SkyDrive
Its 7GB storage with MS Office and Windows 8 integration is a big move from Microsoft in the cloud war.
