Last month, Appletell reported that Apple Computer likely bought the iCloud domain name and that it probably would be used for an iTunes music streaming service. Now, we have a lot more information about how iTunes and iCloud can work together and why it will be to your advantage; especially if you use an iPod, iPhone, or iPad.
Apple Computer has been working on signing deals with Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and EMI. This is one big advantage over Amazon’s Cloud Drive and Google Music, which don’t have agreements. Record companies aren’t too pleased with them, and have even called the Cloud Drive potentially illegal. Having the record companies on Apple’s side means you’re not limited to using the iCloud just as a place to store the music you already own. You could buy songs and listen to them anywhere you have an internet connection without having to download them to your device’s hard drive. In addition, you won’t even have to upload songs you have to the iCloud because it will scan your hard drive for songs you already own and give you access instantly.
Keeping your songs in the iCloud means you don’t have to decide which ones you store on your device, especially if you want to save room for video recording, taking pictures, and downloading apps. You also won’t have to keep track of what songs you have on each of your portable devices because you’ll know they’ll have access to any song you own automatically. The downside is that Apple seems likely to charge a subscription fee to access the iCloud, although there’s no information available about how much it will cost.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Apple if this was all there is to it. Patently Apple has a great description of all of the features that the iCloud will have, as well as a picture of how you could access it through iTunes. One of the best features they describe is being able to keep part of the songs on your device so that you won’t have to wait for them to download before you can start listening. How much of the song is kept on the hard drive depends on the speed of the internet connection. There are also different ways described of how Apple will prevent unauthorized people from getting access to your songs and how this won’t work with just songs but with audio books as well.
Some are speculating that this will be announced (or at the very least mentioned) at the upcoming WWDC starting on June 6th. However, I don’t think Apple will talk about anything that’s not completely ready, and won’t feel pressured to release something that isn’t as close to perfection as possible. Currently Apple is scheduled to discuss the future of the iOS and Mac OS X platforms and their closer integration in future versions. Of course, with Apple, anything is possible, and Steve Jobs loves to surprise us.
Via [CNET and DailyTech]
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