“Even as Apple continues to develop an iTunes to rule them all, Google’s battle with Apple continues — and a fresh skirmish is seen this morning with the sneak preview of what at first appeared to be search giant’s own cloud-based iTunes-killer, Google Music,” Jonny Evans reports for Computerworld.
“Purported publication of a Chinese-language webpage for the service, which promised music in both streamed and a la carte forms, came as Google officially applied for a new operating license in China,” Evans reports. “If it fails to win the license then it will be forced to cease operations there in 2012.”
Evans reports, “The appearance of this seeming music site later saw Google PR begin moves to deny this was Google Music, but its appearance still ignites a little rumination round the Apple-holic water cooler… As we think we know, Apple seems set to launch (or at least preview) its own iTunes streaming service in September, so for this Christmas at least, the Google v. Apple war means we live in interesting times.”
Full article here.
“I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now,
From up and down, and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall.
I really don’t know clouds at all.”
Another day, another Google plans to battle ____ for _____.
Google is going down the same path as Microsoft. Deviating from their core competencies and trying to be all things to all people.
I can’t wait for a cloud-based iTunes.
I don’t think it will be free though. My guess is it will be integrated with Mobile Me.
Perhaps that is when the “free Mobile Me” rumors will begin to come true…
Basic Mobile Me, with limited functionality, at no cost, but if you want email rules, iCal sync, Find My iPhone, and iTunes in the cloud, you need to be a subscriber.
Google…. the new Microsoft….
brought to you by Eric “The Mole” Schmidt ….
a hybrid of Gates and Sculley.
Genius Streaming will kill Pandora. Tis’ a pity. They’ll probably buy P up after a while when it’s cheap.
Still waiting for an in-car system that is Apple-rific. Can’t someone slap an iPod touch or iPad into my dashboard and make me squeal with glee like a little child?
Again? really? Google will never learn. Google was more valuable than apple a year or two ago, once they started to compete against apple, they started to decline. Haven’t they learn anything yet?
Nerd Beautiful
Put a Mac Mini in-dash and use an iPad with screen sharing.
That would be kewl….
I am still unsure about the future of Cloud computing. I think some people like to keep their money safe in their mattress.
@Nerd Beautiful
Check this out.
The perception is also that Apple too has to be the new Microsoft in order to succeed. Good thing people focused on Babe Ruth’s hitting rather than his pitching, although he was also an excellent pitcher. But he was already “The Babe,” and he built this great, big House.
Apple seems to be very successful at building game-changers, while everyone else is trying to build “Killers.”
As an artist, a rebel, a square peg and a Different Drummer- I don’t have much respect for all these other companies no matter how good or bad they may be. Think Different!
@Nerd Beautiful: Genius Streaming will kill Pandora.
Only if you can stream tracks you haven’t already bought. If you’re saying that’s the case, it’s the first I’ve heard of it.
And even if it was, Pandora is a pretty big target to knock off.
——RM
@Buster
Ah, nice! Maybe not the safest thing to do, but with the right interface it’d be awesome. Wonder what apps are going on there…
Thanks for the link.
Don’t you just love how every would-be (or even rumored) Apple competitor is billed as an “Apple killer”. Now here home Google Music, the “iTunes killer”. In your dreams, Google! My guess is that Google will do about as well selling music as they did selling Androids. That sure didn’t last long!
I am an Apple fan but I definitely want more competition just to keep Apple on it’s toes. I would rather Google succeed and Apple keep bringing great products instead of Apple cruising without being pushed to new limits. Look at the example of iPhone 3G & iPhone 3GS.
Yeah, competion is no problem. But when the scum crawls out of the sewers and steals and copies everything you innovate over year… my ass!!!
F$@ck Google, the new a$$hole headquarters…
Google’s motto:
Why should it be genuine, if it can be a cheap ripoff, that SUCKS!
I think with our without competition Apple pushes the envelope…
Perhaps Apple competes with itself….
The notion that competition fuels innovation is a flat-out myth. Just look at the marketplace: Competition everywhere and not an innovative product in sight. Apple lives to outdo itself. That’s why they keep pushing the envelope—not because of half-assed, would-be competitors who couldn’t outdo the iPhone if their lives depended on it.
So now Moleman is gonna come out dancing to the Beach Boys?
What a dork. What the hell, Google? This copycat stuff is getting awkward and sad.
@Nerd Beautiful
In-dash iPad is an accident waiting to happen.
“The notion that competition fuels innovation is a flat-out myth”
I couldn’t agree with you less.
Maybe you have some convincing data?
“In-dash iPad is an accident waiting to happen.”
Which is exactly why you should Velcro it to your windshield….
Google should stick to Search, the rest of their stuff leaves much to be desired..
At least apple should hurry up a new streaming service, because Spotify is better, faster, and much more convenient than the sluggish, expensive iTunes.
@TowerTone:
The data is right in front of you: the almost complete absence of innovative products in the electronics industry despite cut-throat competition at every turn. If you disagree, you are easily impressed.
This is an Amazon MP3 killer.
alansky
What do you suggest to spur more development?
And keep in mind that lowering production cost to make things more affordable is considered development.
Look at LED TVs, HTIBs, cell phones, even the Kindle, Nook, and iPad.
Every vehicle that I have driven for the last 15 years has lived over the 200,000 mile mark.
My washer and dryer work with less energy and are faster and quieter than the ones they replaced.
I bought two 1TB external hard-drives for about the same price I would have paid for one 500 GB a few years ago.
Every camera I have bought in the last 5 years has gotten better and cheaper, does more with less space and battery power.
These things have gotten cheaper and better, and these are just off the top of my head. So what the Hell is it that you want?
Also, when you talk of cut-throat competition, you are showing that lower prices may be the culprit. Smaller margins leave less for development of new products, and if the big sellers are the cheap ones, then you will not get many new products in that field.
If you are talking computers, then Apple has been competing as an underdog for years and kept with their growth strategy, which has been slow and steady. That has paid off.
Thankfully they were smart enough to develop a business model for competition and weren’t worried about looking flashy.
Of course, you can still hold out for that Panasonic Tricorder, if that gets you through the night…
@Tower..
thanks, now I’ll have that song looping in my head for the rest of the day.
@temprakneeoh
Sorry, I used to be huge Joni fan…then I lost some weight.
@TowerTone:
Most product development has very little to do with innovation in the way that I understand the term. Updating features and lowering costs is all well and good, but true innovation is about coming up with something that actually raises the bar; and this happens only rarely, for the most part, in the consumer electronics industry. The first iMac was a game changer, as were the iPod, iPhone and iPad. Apple under Steve Jobs’ leadership has an innovative soul. However, most companies are content to make incremental improvements to familiar products year after year until somebody comes up with an innovative new product that forces everybody else to move forward (or at least try to) in order to compete.
In other words, innovation is the spark that ignites competition—not the other way round. For most companies, maximizing profits is the ultimate goal, not making the best products. Human nature being what it is (remember the bell-shaped curve), “best” and “most profitable” don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand. In fact, what we’re faced with today is an economic system where “most profitable” equates with “cheapest” rather than “best”. This is truly a pity. In such a world, the very notion of “excellence” is lost, or at least lost sight of. Like most things, money makes a very good servant but a terrible master.
Apple killer huh. In the auto world, they say the same thing about BMW every single year. And every single year, manufacturer after manufacturer loses out to the standard, BMW. Sega did a similar thing with always playing catch-up with nintendo and didn’t try to be innovative. Playing catch-up always results in being behind in the end.
Historical, biblical, painstakingly unique or exceptionally common, first names are the great marker of identity. New parents need to look no further than the Internet for thousands of options, and some even enlist the help of naming consultants and numerologists to find the perfect moniker. For every thousand people in the world named Sarah or Michael, there’s an Apple, Pilot Inspektor or Sage Moonblood. But depending on where you live, your proposed name for your new baby could be illegal.
square peg web