Comparison Chart : iCloud vs. the CompetitionThe introduction of Apple ’s iCloud service , plus iTunes integrating – announce during Steve Jobs ’s keynote address at this morning’sWorldwide Developers Conference – was arguably the most pregnant announcement of the twenty-four hours . The boastful question about Apple ’s iTunes in the Cloud offer is , How does it compare to Google Music Beta and Amazon Cloud Drive ?
The short answer : Not all that well . The difference of opinion comes down to one major lineament that iCloud lacks : online streaming . ab initio there was some mix-up over whether the divine service would support streaming of your medicine over Wi - Fi or 3G. But Apple has confirmed to us that it does not . Unlike Amazon Cloud Drive , Google Music Beta , and mSpot Music , your euphony from iCloud is download to your twist , where it takes up local memory ( see the chart at leave for a comparison of each service ’s feature article ) .
cyclosis is a utile feature film for people who have huge music library because it lets you access your total program library on your phone or tablet from the help ’s nomadic app . As a answer , even if you have 15 GB of music and only 5 GB of free space on your phone , you’re able to still play your music . The downside of cyclosis , however , is that if you enter an area with bad response , your medicine will stutter and be interrupted . cyclosis also puts a huge strain on already - overload carrier networks .
The pricing for the four services varies , too . Both Amazon and mSpot use a “ freemium ” model : You get 5 MB of warehousing for free . Google Music Beta is free for now , though no one knows what kind of pricing theoretical account Google will adopt in the time to come . And while iCloud is free , iTunes Match want a $ 25 - a - yr subscription design .
“ Models that go out with mandatory mellow subscription fees have no chance of winning over this broader market . Freemium models , like mSpot , offer a direction to help bridge the nonpaying medicine listeners over to paying customers , ” mSpot ’s cofounder and CEO Daren Tsui state after today ’s announcement . “ detached is really a vainglorious part of what made iTunes 1.0 successful . ”
Amazon and Google declined to comment on any of today ’s announcements .
Sweet Treats in the iCloud
Even Steve Jobs compared iTunes in the Cloud to Amazon and Google . Even without cyclosis capability , iCloud has some appealing features . If you buy a lot of music via the iTunes Store , being capable to wirelessly synchronise your purchase with ten other devices is moderately scented . Even sweeter , if you ’re running Io 4.3 , you’re able to get a beta of iTunes in the Cloud mighty now and quiz it out . By equivalence , Amazon lets you get at your Amazon MP3 Store purchases from eight devices . mSpot does n’t have its own euphony memory , but you may tag Song from its rain buckets radio avail and purchase them through Amazon or iTunes – and with a premium mSpot invoice , you may share those songs with up to five devices . Google Music Beta lets you partake with unlimited twist . But of course , there ’s no Google Music store as yet .
iTunes Match render an elegant way for you to get your music into the iCloud quickly . iTunes Match run down your iTunes depository library and essay to touch it with the 18 million strain uncommitted in the iTunes Store . For song in the iTunes Store , you get instant access , and Apple will even upgrade them to its standard 256 - kbps AAC data format . you may manually upload any songs that Apple ca n’t identify , and doing so is potentially fast with iCloud than with the upload method acting used by Amazon and Google , since iCloud require an upload only if you ca n’t find your super - obscure music in the iTunes Store .
I have to vent about this , however : Apple ’s argument that it takes “ twenty-four hours ” to upload your euphony to Google Music Beta and Amazon Cloud Drive is a huge exaggeration . by nature , how long the process takes depends on the sizing of your library and on your meshwork ’s speed . But Google Music Beta succeeded in uploading a 5000 + call library on my home internet in about half a day . Are they using telephone dial - up in Cupertino ?
iCloud extends far beyond music . It countenance you wirelessly partake in subject matter and selective information across multiple iOS devices , as well as on your Mac or PC . The selective information includes documents , impinging information , calendar entropy , photograph , and ( of course of study ) euphony .
pull back equivalence between Apple and the rest of the pack is only raw . Until we get our hands on iCloud and iTunes Match , though , we can only speculate about whether iTunes in the Cloud is likely to be an Amazon Cloud Drive or Google Music Beta cause of death , or just another also - run away . I could see myself using multiple services interchangeably , depend on what my needs are or which devices I ’m using .
