UPDATED 14:03 EDT / JUNE 02 2011

iCloud: Hitting the Right Note or Falling Flat?

Whether unlimited streaming subscription services will be successful with bigger businesses joining the riot, one thing is for certain; music and the cloud in the next five years will be harmonized. Left and right speculations are now mounting as the launch of Apple Inc.’s iCloud nears.

 

Alex Gauna of JMP Securities believes that the iCloud could just be amazing and beat other cloud-based services. He said, “We have seen some speculation that Apple will announce a cloud-based iTunes offering, but given its unique position to shock and awe with enhancements, extensions, and harmonization of its OS X Lion, iOS 5, and iCloud offerings, we would hope to see something more substantial and capable of distancing itself from Android’s gathering momentum.”

 

Cloud-centric media services are rocking the house. Proof? Aside from Apple Inc. going gaga over iCloud, there are other companies gliding along the cloud streaming market. Recently, search giant launched Google Music—an application initially intended for Android phones and can now be used for iPhones and iPads. Google also bid $100 million for cloud music rights from labels. However, since it is not a dedicated app for Apple products, difficulty in usage surfaced instantaneously. HTC picks up from where Google alighted. The company will be releasing HTC Listen for music purchases and HTC Watch for video downloads. Amazon loves cloud and this was seen lately with Amazon Cloud Drive and Cloud Player, a seemingly online storage library or locker of music. SPINLET, makers of innovative, cloud-based music streaming and storage applications snatched the trust of Verod Capital and bagged an undisclosed amount of investment via funding boost.

 

Apple’s investment in iCloud is no joke. Although there were no exact figures revealed, iCloud could quadruple market for Apple mobile devices by ditching PC. It’s also quite interesting to note that the billion-dollar iCloud data center appears on Google Earth.


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