iCloud is go but no video
June 7, 2011
Steve Jobs returned from medical leave to reveal iCloud the web-based service to synchronise content users store and share across their Apple devices – but not TV or movies yet.
Anyone buying an app, book or music track for one device will see it replicated on the other Apple devices they own. “We are demoting the PC and Mac to just be a device,” he said. “And moving the digital hub centre of your digital life to the cloud.”
But there is no video syncing, yet. The cloud-based media storage offers the ability to sync your personal music library with the cloud without uploading any of the actual files, making it possible to access thousands of songs on any of your devices in a matter of minutes. Apple calls this feature Music Match, and charges users $24.99 per year to instantly access their personal music library online.
There were rumours before the event that Apple was in talks with Hollywood to secure similar rights for movie streams. A cloud solution for Hollywood fare would be a major extension to Apple’s existing iTunes video offering, which largely centers around rentals and sales of movies and TV show downloads. Apple does offer streaming of select TV show episodes for $0.99 on Apple TV, but it hasn’t made this price point and functionality available to users of the iTunes desktop client, or to other iOS devices like the iPad or iPhone.