Cloud wars
It was inevitable that Amazon would have to respond once Apple launched its iCloud remote storage service; the only surprise is that it took a month to happen.
Amazon launched its Cloud Drive and Cloud Player services back in March - the first big player to offer the ability to store your music and files in the cloud, then access them from any device. This technology is especially contentious for the music industry, which is desperate to control the ways in which music is distributed.
Like Google soon after, Amazon failed to come to a direct arrangement with the music labels, meaning functionality such as the replication of music collections in the cloud couldn't be offered. Apple ensured it didn't make the same mistake, and thus has some distinct advantages in terms of functionality.
Amazon's response has not been to renegotiate with the music labels, it seems, but to try to make its existing offering more competitive. The changes are as follows:
- Unlimited space for music files with any paid-for Cloud Drive storage plans, for a limited time
- Free storage for for all Amazon MP3 purchases
- Web-based cloud player optimized for Safari on the iPad
Unfortunately it looks like this is still a US-only proposition, but will surely go international before long. You get 5 GB for free and then you can purchase additional chunks of storage, starting at 20 GB, for a dollar per GB.
