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A Growing Cloud of Services
By Rachael King
Cloud services are inexorably affecting our daily lives. About 87 percent of consumers with computers and Internet access say they use at least one cloud-based service, according to a survey earlier this year by ABI Research. Consumers access cloud services through the Web, with the information then processed on computers located elsewhere—likely in a far-flung data center. The three most popular cloud services are Microsoft's (MSFT) Hotmail, Google's (GOOG) Gmail, and Yahoo! (YHOO) Messenger. While ABI's survey focused on e-mail, messaging, office apps, and online storage services, we've added popular cloud products in social networking, travel, photos, music, and security. Read on to see if any of these are right for you.
