Smartphone owners have no shortage of cloud-based safety nets, whether it’s Google’s services, iCloud or any number of file sync providers. Few of these come from the carrier, however, and Verizon is gambling that its now-deploying Verizon Cloud service will serve as a crutch for anyone replacing a phone on its network. The currently Android- and web-only release offers daily backups of the usual media libraries as well as call logs, contacts and messages. While that isn’t special in itself, Verizon is also promising cross-platform safeguards: both an iOS app (available “soon”) and future OS support should let customers fetch some of their data if they switch platforms. Just don’t count on Verizon Cloud as an alternative to established rivals unless you’re both loyal to Verizon and willing to spend.
