Amazon has announced availability of Cloud Player App for iPhone and iPod touch on the App Store, a move that expands the reach of the Internet retail giant for Apple users. The app allows customers to stream or download music stored in Cloud Player to their iPhone or iPod touch, play music that is already stored on their device, and manage or create playlists.
“Customers tell us that they want access to all of their music, wherever they are, and on all of the devices they use,” said Steve Boom, Vice President of Digital Music for Amazon. “By bringing Cloud Player to iPhone and iPod touch, we now have the most widely compatible cloud playback solution available, giving our customers the ability to buy once and enjoy their music everywhere.”
Customers using the Amazon Cloud Player App can stream, download, and manage their music in the cloud, eliminating the need to download files before playing them. With this new app, customers have full access to their Cloud Player music libraries and also can seamlessly add playlists that are currently on their iPhone or iPod touch.
All Amazon customers automatically start with 5 GB of free storage to begin uploading their digital music library to Cloud Player, and for a limited time, those who purchase any storage plan will receive unlimited space for MP3 and AAC (.m4a) music files at no additional cost.
Amazon is a big rival to Apple’s iTunes and will not be selling music through the app but will allow its customers to manage and listen on Apple hardware. Amazon is also selling its own tablet – the Kindle Fire, in a challenge to the market-leading iPad from Apple. But Kindle sales are believed to be dwindling after a sales surge last year, according to analysts. Amazon does not provide sales data for the Kindle. Their sales of the Kindle may be slipping but their main source of revenue is being generated from content and not from hardware.
