[News] Apple Launches iCloud

We've previously been given the news that both Google and Amazon launched their own version of a cloud service earlier in the year but the last to join the battle is by far the least. Today Steve Jobs announced iCloud at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. As we'd expected this service will allow users to stream their very own music collection to their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch wherever they may be. Nothing too groundbreaking then. However, Jobs went on to say that "Some people think the cloud is just a big disk in the sky...We think it's way more than that." And here's how Apple may be leading the way that the others aren't.

They've brought along the feature of iMatch which may make the decision a little easier for users. Users can pay $24.99 yearly for the privilege of streaming non-iTunes Store purchased music fro their library. iMatch will scan the non iTunes store purchases and match it with music already on the iTunes Store. This feature will mean that unlike Amazon on which you have to upload your entire library which could take an age to do if you're a music buff. As well as this Amazon charges $50 for the storage of 5,000 songs and $200 for 20,000 where as Apples service will be free to use with the only fee being if you choose to use the iMatch feature. It seems like a fair price to pay for the hours you'll spend watching an upload bar. Google are yet to lay their cards on the table as to it's prices for uploads.

All in all it looks like Apple may have once again offered up a great service but does it meet your expectations and will you be using it? How about that if you join up you'll be able to instantly share applications, photos, documents, calendars, and more to  other users with Apple devices. Let us know your thoughts.