Rumor has it Google will be finally launching a cloud-based “Google Music” later this year, but if you can’t wait that long, there’s an alternative – Cloud Music.
The iPhone app is surely not as full-featured or integrated as something we’d expect to see from Google or Apple, but for two bucks and a bit of ingenuity, it’ll certainly do.
In January, Google extended Google Docs to allow users to upload any type of file, up to 250 MB in size, to be stored on Google’s servers. Cloud Music allows users to take advantage of this and treat Google Docs as their own, personal music server.
Google users automatically get 1GB of storage and can buy 20GB more for $5 per year.
The app will play music files in MP3, MP4 and WAV formats and, according to the app’s description in the App Store, if you upload the album as a folder with the cover image, it will even show the cover while the album is played. An even more exciting feature, however, is that you can “also play music shared to you by your friends”.
This sharing feature could be the real selling point. If we have to take the time to upload all of my music to Google Docs and keep it synched up, we’re not so sure it’s worth it. Add in the ability for us and all of our friends to share our collections, however, and you have a deal. For just $2 and then whatever meager amount you might spend on Google storage, it surely seems like a deal.
