Categories
News

$4.5 million iCloud.com domain name may switch owners soon

Apple iCloud

More details continue to emerge about Apple’s iCloud music service which reports say will be unveiled on the web at icloud.com — a domain name the company reportedly paid $4.5 million for ownership of from Swedish cloud computing company Xcerion. 

According to a report on Thursday by BusinessWeek called ‘Apple’s Deals May Transform Digital Music’, the company could preview its cloud plans as early as June at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

The sold out Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, which takes place June 6-10, showcases the latest innovations and the newest technologies in iOS and Mac OS X.

That’s just a week away.

However, if the rumors are true that Apple will be running the service online at icloud.com, the company is running short on time to have its website up and running. 

As many have already noted, the domain name is still registered to Xcerion and it continues to forward to Xcerion’s Cloudme.com, an online digital storage service. 

Xcerion
   ATTN ICLOUD.COM
   care of Network Solutions
   PO Box 459
   Drums, PA.  US  18222
  
   Domain Name: ICLOUD.COM

   Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
      Xcerion               
      ATTN ICLOUD.COM
      care of Network Solutions
      PO Box 459
      Drums, PA 18222
      US
     
   Record expires on 15-Jan-2018.
   Record created on 18-Dec-2007.

Has the deal fallen apart, or will the name finally switch hands in the coming days?

Apple’s own website has no information online about its icloud.  As of today, neither icloud.apple.com nor apple.com/icloud resolve to a working page.

[UPDATE May 31st, 2011:  Apple issued a press release announcing the company would unveil iCloud at the Worldwide Developers Conference beginning on Monday, June 6.]

[Photo of the Apple cloud via THEVILLE]

Categories
News

Hot Trends: Cloud domain names in 2011

cloud computing

A lot of writers are predicting hot trends for 2011 and one trend in particular that seems to stand out among many of the stories is “cloud computing”, a term that refers to accessing computer services over the internet or “cloud”.   The terms internet and cloud are interchangeable. 

Google Docs is a well known example of a cloud computing service.

While some critics say cloud computing is overhyped, it’s hard to argue against it with major service providers like Google and SalesForce.com taking to the cloud.  Earlier this month, SalesForce.com unveiled Database.com, the enterprise cloud database. 

Domain bloggers Andrew Allemann of Domain Name Wire and Mike Sullivan of Sully’s Blog have written about the Cloud.com domain.  The domain Cloud.com was purchased earlier this year by VMOps after it was put up for sale by Meetup Co-founder Scott Hieferman. 

Back in September, Peter Ulander, Chief Marketing Officer at Cloud.com (formerly VMOps) spent time answering Mike Sullivan’s questions on the domain and the business, which Mike posted online.  According to Peter Ulander, the decision to acquire the name has been paying dividends with traffic: “While I can’t share the specific volume, we are pleased with the increase in traffic since launching under the cloud.com domain.  Our core traffic increased by more that 500% and, when compared to similar companies in our space, we are outperforming them on inbound traffic and time spent on site – meaning that we are hitting the decision makers in our space.”

Will Cloud domains be a hot trend in 2011?

Though the price of Cloud.com remains undisclosed, there were dozens of domain sales in 2010, with many looking to be bargain buys.  It will be interesting to see whether any of these names end up selling for a bigger return in 2011. 

 

Domain
Date Sold Price Location
cloud-computing.de Aug 4,2010 $38,280.00 Sedo
cloud-computing.de Sep 11,2010 29000 Sedo.com
cloud.me Sep 11,2010 $22,500.00 Sedo.com
cloudcomputing.com.au 2010 $8,000.00 NetFleet.com.au
cloudcomputing.in 2010 $5,000.00 PvtSale
cloudbot.com 2010 $4,000.00  
cloudcraze.com 2010 $4,000.00  
cloudexchange.com Sep 11,2010 $3,900.00 Sedo.com
cloudcomputing.info Sep 13,2010 $3,500.00 Sedo.com
cloudbook.de 2010 $3,075.00  
publicclouds.com Sep 17,2010 $3,000.00 Sedo.com
clouddb.com Sep 13,2010 $3,000.00 Sedo.com
cloudgames.com Sep 11,2010 $3,000.00 Sedo.com
myclouds.com Sep 11,2010 $3,000.00 Sedo.com
cloudtree.net 2010 $3,000.00 Sedo
cloudgames.net Sep 15,2010 $2,500.00 Sedo.com
instantclouds.com Sep 11,2010 $2,500.00 Sedo.com
cloud.ly 2010 $2,500.00  
oncloud9.com Sep 13,2010 $2,300.00 Sedo.com
cloudsaas.com Sep 12,2010 $2,250.00 Sedo.com
becloud.com Sep 13,2010 $2,000.00 Sedo.com
cloudbook.net Sep 12,2010 $2,000.00 Sedo.com
cloudnine.org Sep 11,2010 $1,883.00 Sedo.com
cloudblue.com Sep 12,2010 $1,700.00 Sedo.com
cloud.be Sep 14,2010 1500 Sedo.com
cloudgames.co.uk Sep 11,2010 $1,500.00 Sedo.com
cloudside.com Sep 11,2010 $1,200.00 Sedo.com
cloud365.com Sep 21,2010 $1,000.00 Sedo.com
letscloud.com Sep 11,2010 $1,000.00 Sedo.com
vclouds.com Sep 24,2009 $1,000.00 Sedo.com

Do you own any cloud domains?  The only “cloud” name I own is CloudShapes.com, which I purchased on NameJet back in June 2008 after it had expired.