Apple has executed and leveraged a retail strategy with unique success. iTunes is the most highly utilized consumer cloud service: it is unequalled as a content delivery platform, and Apple has special relationships with the music and video industries.

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"If you are an insurance company and are starting a service for your claims adjusters, the Services Delivery Platform software stack will know how to integrate it with your existing e-business infrastructure, transcode it, and deliver content to these in-car devices, " Desai said.

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This unused TV spectrum provides a major new platform for innovation and delivery of service, with potential for both research and commercial applications.

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But as the platform-as-a-service delivery model grows, it will intensify the competition between large cloud service providers and enterprise software suppliers, which look to capture the growing, market, Gartner predicted.

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