It is no surprise that cloud computing and cloud-based technology is making waves in a variety of industries - it delivers a host of benefits and is making not only companies lives easier, but also the consumers. We’re going to take a look at the movie industry and see how they are making use of cloud technology.

Watching movies wherever you are

The movie industry is making great use of the convenience cloud technology can bring to consumers. Streaming services are becoming more and more popular, with the two most popular in the UK being LoveFilm and Netflix.These services require you to pay a subscription, and using a web browser, users can stream the movies directly to their computers. Certain information from the user is uploaded to their servers such as how far through a movie the user is - if you watch half a movie on your PC and pause it, and later on try watching the same movie from your phone, your playback will resume where you left off.This type of service is typical of cloud computing, where users only pay for servers when they need them, resulting in an up-and-down in server usage. It’s important to note that it isn’t really the users who are using the cloud, it is Netflix themselves - they host all of their content on the cloud because of the way they can handle unpredictable workloads.Another service is UltraViolet. In terms of payment and pricing models, UltraViolet works in a more traditional way. If users buy a movie (whether in-store or online) and the UltraViolet logo is displayed, those users can add the movie to an online digital collection in the cloud.This allows users to then access their digital collection wherever they are and whatever device they happen to be using - whether a smartphone, laptop, TV or tablet. So people who are purchasing their movies in a more ‘old-fashioned’ way can also benefit from cloud technology.This technology has recently been offered by Apple as they are working hard to expand their cloud services. Originally only available in the US, Apple allowed UK users this year to store their purchases on the cloud. Normally, if a customer bought a movie on iTunes, they would then need to download the movie to their computer and transfer that movie to whichever iOS device they wished to watch it on.Now, customers get the option to click the ‘cloud icon’ where that purchase will be transferred to the cloud (eating into the user's pre-defined amount of storage space, which can be upgraded) resulting in a purchase that is accessible no matter which device is being used.What is amazing about these applications, is that users no longer need to continually upgrade their storage space, or when using a streaming service, they can access an entire catalogue of titles without having to purchase a single one. All you need is a device and an internet connection. And with internet connections continually getting better, there is no better time than now to make use of accessing data in the cloud.