Tech Report: Apple Will Unveil iCloud in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — Apple is set to debut its iCloud service Monday at the company's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.
KCBS Technology Analyst Larry Magid, who will be in attendance at the conference, said the service will store digital music in "the cloud" for the internet, but admits it isn't clear if it will handle video and movies.
Magid briefly spoke about some of iCloud's features and how it will function.
"You won't have to upload it yourself. You're just going to sort of prove you own it either by having the machine scan it or maybe check your iTunes bill of sale," he said.
The tech expert added that, one way or another, the music will just be there for you, which differs from the way Amazon and Google are handling their cloud music services.
KCBS Technology Analyst Larry Magid Comments:
Magid hopes that the music will be able to play without a Wi-Fi or 3G connection by just downloading it onto a device such as an iPod Touch with internet access, or a PC or Mac.
He also attributes a rumor to the L.A. Times that Apple will charge $25 a year going forward for the service and that this is an obvious revenue opportunity for the company. Magid said the program will likely be optimized for Apple products -- which will be another factor keeping them the dominant music service over Amazon and Google.
"75 percent of digital music is bought through Apple. They have to innovate to make sure that they have the best service out there," said Magid.
According to Magid, Apple has the financial power to secure relationships with music publishers and labels, whereas Google was initially unable to do so for their service.
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