We’ve kept hearing for months that Google will launch a music streaming service, but we’ve also heard about delays upon delays, probably because it takes a long time to sign deals with the labels. It’s true that Amazon’s new Cloud Player seems to be more about uploading your own music into Amazon’s cloud than buying your own music from them.
You can still buy music from Amazon, and you can also import music from iTunes, but I think the new Google Music service and also later Apple’s cloud music service will also be about getting access to unlimited music online for a much lower price than before (kind of like Spotify or Zune Pass).
Still, it seems like Amazon wants to become the best alternative to Google’s own services, for every manufacturer and carrier out there that doesn’t want to play by Google’s own rules when it comes to Android. After all, that is the purprose of having Android open-source. If we ended up depending solely on Google for provinding a good Android experience, then we wouldn’t be better off than if Google kept Android proprietary. Competition will keep everyone honest, even a generally good willing company like Google.
I also don’t think Amazon’s plans will stop here. All these services for Android are just a preparation for launching their own tablet with Android, which if released at $250 or so could become the most popular tablet besides iPad.
