Cloud Player: Amazon Launches New Service
Amazon has fired the next shot in the battle for online music supremacy by launching its Cloud Player music locker service for U.S customers.
The service lets users upload their music (or other files) onto Amazon computers so they can then access it from any computer or a tablet or smart phone with Google's Android operating system. Users of Apple's iPhone or iPad won't be able to access the service.
The launch takes Amazon one step ahead of rivals Apple and Google who are both rumored to be working on similar systems. It is thought the Apple version will be an extension of their existing MobileMe service which already allows users to upload documents to a cloud that can be accessed from anywhere.
Both Apple and Google are thought to be in negotiations with the music industry to agree licensing arrangements.
The new Amazon Cloud Player is free for up to 5 gigabytes of music storage, which works out at around 1 000 songs. After that it costs around $1 per gigabyte per year. Or customers buying a digital album from Amazon's online MP3 music store qualify for 20 gigabytes free for a year.
Reviews of the Amazon Cloud Player have been mixed. Digital Trends says it "works well" and files are "easy to retrieve" but that because it has not be designed for a full backup and there is no easy way to copy whole folders, "it may be difficult for more hardcore users to fully utilize."
PC Magazine notes the fact it is free as a positive but thinks several areas need reconsidering. "Cloud Player has a few curious limitations. You can't upload audiobooks, ringtones, files larger than 100MB in size, or tracks recorded in FLAC, OGG, WAV, or any other types other than AAC and MP3."
A number of smaller cloud music services already exist, but Amazon is the first big company to enter the market.
No date has been set for the system's launch in the U.K. where different copyright laws could prove a stumbling block.
