iTunes In The Cloud, iCloud, That Is
As iCloud was revealed in earnest during the first big keynote of WWDC 2011, Steve Jobs himself revealed a rather important addition to the just-revealed iCloud system: iTunes. iTunes in the Cloud was what Steve called a "last, but not least" for this iCloud story during this gigantically important keynote, showing off how now for the songs you've purchased, they'd added a "purchased" button, showing up at the bottom of your music list. "It's the same old story – I buy something on my iPhone, and it's not on my other devices" – fixed today? Very well maybe!
Jobs continued by mentioning that now iTunes shows you the history of all the songs you've purchased, now from any devices. Instead of the usual "buy" button, it's that fancy little cloud icon we've come to love so well. The demo of this system is done, and it is pretty slick. A Bruno Mars track is downloaded on one device, and automatically it begins downloading on several different devices. Magic!
As Steve continues, he mentions that each track is 256kbps AAC and can be pushed to up to 10 devices with this new deal they're bringing to the stage. He notes, "We're making it free, and we're very excited about it," and goes on, "When you upgrade a phone or buy a new one, you get it." Steve let us all know at this point that "It will be turned on by default for new iOS 5 devices, and you get 5GB of Mail storage free, plus other storage – Photo Stream and music downloads aren't counted."
This system, Jobs notes, is out for developer beta for iOS 4.3 now.
"One more thing."
Says Steve.
