Apple has reportedly begun the developer testing phase of the fifth pre-release version of its iCloud cloud computing service software. Website Apple Insider suggests that this weekend saw the company offer iCloud for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion alongside the first external beta of Mac OS X 10.7.2.
Restricting access to its closely guarded developer group, the new build of Mac OS X 10.7.2 is jauntily titled "11C26", but is somewhat disorienting given that no developer previews of Mac OS X 10.7.1 have been issued as yet.
The clues to this anomaly lie in rumors that Mac OS X 10.7.1 will be released in a matter of weeks to address issues already being reported with Lion.
In an unverifiable quote, Apple Insider writes that the company has issued the following edict to developers, "You must install OS X Lion 10.7.2 in order to use iCloud for OS X Lion beta 5. This pre-release version of OS X Lion is being provided solely for testing iCloud."
With final releases of iCloud for Lion and iOS 5 expected this fall, the OS X 10.7.2 update is thought to feature updates to Mail, Contacts, and Calendar.
According to Apple's developer website zone, "iCloud Storage APIs enable your apps to store documents and key value data in iCloud. iCloud will wirelessly push documents to a user's device automatically and update the documents when changed on any device — automatically. iOS and Mac Developer Program members can set up iCloud for iOS, OS X Lion, and Windows, and prepare their apps for the iCloud service."
