Amazon Launches Cloud-Based Storage Service and Music Player
Amazon today unveiled a pair of cloud-based offerings designed to allow users to store music and other digital content in the cloud and to play cloud-hosted music tracks via players for the Web and on Android.
Amazon Cloud Drive is the new storage service, with the company offering users 5 GB of space free of charge. Additional capacity is available through paid plans at six different tiers priced at a uniform $1 per GB per year, starting at 20 GB ($20) and ranging up to 1000 GB ($1000).
As a bonus offer, customers who purchase an album from the Amazon MP3 Store before December 31st will receive a free one-year upgrade to the 20 GB level. In addition, any music content purchased through the Amazon MP3 Store and stored in Amazon Cloud Drive does not count toward a user's storage limit.
Amazon Cloud Player is the mechanism by which music stored in Amazon Cloud Drive can be played. The company offers a Web player compatible with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Safari, targeting both PCs and Macs. In addition, Amazon offers a downloadable app for Android devices to allow content to played on the mobile platform. Other mobile platforms such as iOS, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone are not supported, and the Web player does not function under iOS, rendering Apple's mobile devices incompatible with the service.
Apple has been rumored to be developing its own cloud-based "digital locker" solution focused on music and perhaps video, reportedly coming as a revamp to the company's MobileMe services. According to one recent report, Apple has finally reached a deal with Warner Brothers to permit the cloud-based storage and is pushing to get other labels to fall in line for an April launch of the new service, said to be priced at $20 per year for an undisclosed amount of storage space.
Top Rated Comments
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15 months ago
The web player cannot be played on iOS devices? Really? Is it Flash-based?
Geez, this seems like the Mac vs PC wars all over again. But, I can't blame Amazon for not making a native iOS app. I wouldn't want to blindly give Apple 30% of my profits either.
Geez, this seems like the Mac vs PC wars all over again. But, I can't blame Amazon for not making a native iOS app. I wouldn't want to blindly give Apple 30% of my profits either.
15 months ago
The web player cannot be played on iOS devices? Really? Is it Flash-based?
nope, they've just restricted it.
15 months ago
Dang... I feel like $80 a month is a LOT of money for 1TB of space. Especially when you can pay $70 ONCE and get your own 1TB drive.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822324041&cm_re=1tb-_-22-324-041-_-Product
Of course there are many benefits of having your data "in the cloud," but I think their prices are way too high.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822324041&cm_re=1tb-_-22-324-041-_-Product
Of course there are many benefits of having your data "in the cloud," but I think their prices are way too high.
15 months ago
just updated my Amazon android app on my HTC Inspire and it works
5GB is enough space for weeks of listening. all you need is to choose some favorite songs you listen to over and over again for this. not like you have to upload every song you own and listen to only once in a few years
cool idea. apple buys up all the flash, so amazon comes out with a service where you don't need any flash in a phone
5GB is enough space for weeks of listening. all you need is to choose some favorite songs you listen to over and over again for this. not like you have to upload every song you own and listen to only once in a few years
cool idea. apple buys up all the flash, so amazon comes out with a service where you don't need any flash in a phone
15 months ago
And if you stop subscribing?...What happens to your music files stored in the cloud?
15 months ago
The web player cannot be played on iOS devices? Really? Is it Flash-based?
It sounds like a bad move at first glance, but iOS users will likely use Apple's cloud-based service.
15 months ago
Pricing is fairly high when compared to external drives one can purchase. But the convenience of having your data WHEREVER you are is extremely tempting. Has anyone tried pogoplug before? It seems like an affordable solution to the cloud with its one time fee, but I'm not sure what the download speeds are like.
15 months ago
Seems strange that they're not rolling this out to iDevices. I can't see them having to hand over 30% of the revenue to Apple - this looks like more of a Dropbox competitor.
Possibly Apple's launch of a competitor is imminent, and Amazon just doesn't think that they can compete on Apple's home turf?
I hope this is true. Could be quite useful.
Possibly Apple's launch of a competitor is imminent, and Amazon just doesn't think that they can compete on Apple's home turf?
I hope this is true. Could be quite useful.
15 months ago
I dont understand the point of this. Is storage really an issue on peoples computers? I understand the mobile app, but why not just store the files locally?
15 months ago
I think Apple will probably have the same deal as Amazon.
Amazon just beat them to the punch with this launch.
The deal from Apple will be that you will get 5GB when you open a account in Mobile Me and you will pay $20 for 20GB of space.
This might be the revamp that everyone is talking about with Mobile Me.
What do you guys think?
Amazon just beat them to the punch with this launch.
The deal from Apple will be that you will get 5GB when you open a account in Mobile Me and you will pay $20 for 20GB of space.
This might be the revamp that everyone is talking about with Mobile Me.
What do you guys think?
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