Cloud storage for mobile devices based on user-specified limits for different types of data

1. A mobile device comprising processing circuitry to:

receive user preference information indicating a plurality of local storage limits for a plurality of content types, wherein a particular local storage limit, of the plurality of local storage limits, is a local storage limit for a particular content type, of the plurality of content types, and

wherein the user preference information is obtained via a graphical interface, provided by the mobile device, to the user, for inputting the plurality of local storage limits for the plurality of content types;

receive a request to store a particular content item, the particular content item being associated with a particular content type of the plurality of content types;

determine a total local storage amount for a plurality of content items that are stored locally on the mobile device and that are associated with the particular content type, the plurality of the content items being associated with a plurality of different applications;

determine, based on a local storage limit for the particular content type and based on the determined total local storage amount, whether local storage of the particular content item would exceed the local storage limit for the particular content type;

select, when the local storage of the particular content item is determined to exceed the local storage limit for the particular content type, one or more of the plurality of the content items to move to a remote storage server; and

move the selected one or more of the plurality of the content items to the remote storage server.

2. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the selection of the one or more of the plurality of the content items includes preferentially selecting content items that have not been recently accessed.

3. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the selection of one or more of the plurality of the content items includes selecting the one or more of the plurality of the content items based on a determination of which of the one or more of the plurality of the content items is least likely to be subsequently read.

4. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the request to store the particular content item includes an explicit indication of the content type of the particular content item.

5. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein moving the selected one or more of the plurality of the content items to the remote storage server includes transmitting the selected one or more of the plurality of the content items, via a cellular wireless network, during periods of low load of a radio interface of the cellular wireless network.

6. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the request to store the content item is received by an Operating System (OS) layer component of the mobile device.

7. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of content types include: an audio content type, a photo content type, and a video content type.

8. A method implemented by a mobile device, the method comprising:

receiving, by the mobile device, user preference information indicating a plurality of local storage limits for a plurality of content types, wherein a particular local storage limit, of the plurality of local storage limits, is a local storage limit for a particular content type, of the plurality of content types, and

wherein the user preference information is obtained via a graphical interface, provided by the mobile device, to the user, for inputting the plurality of local storage limits for the plurality of content types;

receiving, from an application being executed by the mobile device, a request to store a particular content item, the particular content item being associated with a particular content type of the plurality of content types;

determining, by the mobile device, a total local storage amount for a plurality of content items that are stored locally on the mobile device and that are associated with the particular content type, the plurality of content items being associated with a plurality of different applications;

determining, by the mobile device, and based on a local storage limit for the particular content type and based on the determined total local storage amount, whether local storage of the particular content item would exceed the local storage limit for the particular content type;

selecting, by the mobile device and when the local storage of the particular content item is determined to exceed the local storage limit for the particular content type, one or more of the plurality of the content items to move to a remote storage server; and

moving, by the mobile device, the selected one or more of the plurality of the content items to the remote storage server.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the selecting the one or more of the plurality of the content items includes preferentially selecting content items that have not been recently accessed.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the selecting the one or more of the plurality of the content items includes selecting the one or more of the plurality of the content items based on a determination of which of the one or more of the plurality of the content items is least likely to be subsequently read.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the request to store the particular content item includes an indication of the content type of the particular content item.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein moving the selected one or more of the plurality of the content items to the remote storage server includes transmitting the selected one or more of the plurality of the content items, via a cellular wireless network, during periods of low load of a radio interface of the cellular wireless network.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the request to store the content item is received by an Operating System (OS) layer component of the mobile device.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of content types include at least one of: an audio content type, a photo content type, or a video content type.

15. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

receiving a second request, from the application being executed by the mobile device, to read a second particular content item;

determining whether the second particular content item is stored locally or at the remote storage server;

reading the second particular content item, from local storage, when the second particular content item is determined to be stored locally; and

reading the second particular content item, from remote storage server, when the particular content item is determined to not be stored locally but to be stored at the remote storage server.

16. A mobile device comprising processing circuitry to:

receive user preference information, from the user of the mobile device, indicating storage limits, each of the storage limits being applicable to an aggregate amount of data, of a particular content type, and each of the storage limits being associated with a plurality of applications executed by the mobile device, and

wherein the user preference information is obtained via a graphical interface, provided by the mobile device, to the user, for inputting the plurality of local storage limits for the plurality of content types;

schedule a transfer of data, of the particular content type, between local storage of the mobile device and cloud storage implemented remotely relative to the mobile device, the scheduling being based on the user preference information and based on the aggregate amount of data of the particular content type; and

transfer the scheduled data, to and from the cloud storage, to enforce the storage limits indicated by the user preference information.

17. The mobile device of claim 16 , wherein scheduling the transfer of data includes scheduling the transfer of the data during periods of low network load.

18. The mobile device of claim 16 , wherein the processing circuitry is further to:

allocate storage of all data of the particular content type, between the local storage and the cloud storage, the allocation including preferentially store recently accessed data locally.

19. The mobile device of claim 16 , wherein the processing circuitry is further to:

allocate storage of all data of the particular content type, between the local storage and the cloud storage, the allocation being based on one or more of: file size of content items; total storage space of the mobile device; last access of content items of a particular content type; last access by a particular application that created a particular content item; and known upcoming user events.

20. The mobile device of claim 16 , wherein the particular content type includes one of: an audio content type, a photo content type, or a video content type.