Apple Buys iCloud.com as a Home for New Service
Apple may have taken a big step toward the impending launch of its cloud-based music service today. The California-based company is rumored to have put 4.5 million bucks on the table to purchase the URL icloud.com, from Xcerion. Xcerion had been using the domain as a home for its own cloud based storage service but, for the right price, was more than happy to rebrand to “CloudMe.”
The purchase of a URL and an official name would come as no surprise at this point, since media buzz has been steadily building about the service and a launch date can’t be too far off. In just the last couple of days, All Things Digital reported that Apple has been actively seeking licensing deals from major record labels in order to secure content for the service, and Cnet has taken time to speculate a $20 annual fee requirement for the service.
Apple execs have surely lit a fire under the “iCloud” project (the name is still unconfirmed at this point) since Amazon launched their Cloud Drive service a month ago. Amazon’s service allows users to store and access digital content through multiple devices, meaning they can upload their music library to company servers, and then access them through the internet using smart phones, PCs, eReaders, tablet PCs etc.
Whenever Apple’s cloud-based music locker rolls out, it will surely be a hit as the benefits are huge. Cloud based storage removes the risk of theft, since all the content is kept safe online, and also removes the need to sync devices to a computer to update individual libraries.
Apple has been closemouthed about the service thus far, releasing no official reports and remaining unresponsive to requested interviews.
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