Amazon is launching the Amazon Cloud Drive, Amazon Cloud Player for Web and the Amazon Cloud Player for Android. These give users storage in the cloud and players to listen to music stored there. Details of the three products include:
o Cloud Drive: a back-up service for all types of files. Music is stored in the original bit rate. Users get access with their Amazon ID and password. Everyone gets 5GB free, and after the purchase of an album on the Amazon music store, another 20GB is offered free for a year; any downloads from the Amazon store do not count towards the usage allowance. Further upgrades are available (although not yet in Europe), starting from 20 GB for USD 20 per year to 1,000 GB for USD 1,000. Amazon is using its own S3 (simple storage service) to support the service.
o Cloud Player for Web: supports various broswers (IE, Firefox, Safari, Chrome), but currently only available in the US.
o Cloud Player for Android: for listening on an Android device. Integrated in the new Amazon MP3 app.
With the new service Amazon is making the move from physical storage to the cloud, a transition the whole Amazon web store will make as the CD and DVD lose market share. At the same time, Amazon is making use of its own infrastructure, on which it already offers a full range of business services for cloud computing and storage. Also in terms of price, the new services fit Amazon's strategy: low prices drive high volume. The company is profiting fully from its own economies of scale.
The Amazon Cloud Drive is in the same line as UltraViolet (www.uvvu.com), a cloud service supported by almost all the major players in the media industry, united in DECE (Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem). Notably absent in this venture are Walt Disney, Apple, Amazon and Google. Since the takeover of DRM specialist Widevine, Google is indirectly a member. The same was true for Amazon, which took over Lovefilm (the European Netflix). Lovefilm joined DECE in June 2010, but since its takeover by Amazon in January 2011, it has disappeared from the members list at DECE. Now we know why.
Wall Disney's strategy is still unclear. It was working for some time on a similar concept: KeyChest. But in November 2010, Disney introduced Disney Studio All Access, a service that should be interoperable with UltraViolet. Apple has a clear strategy focused on its own, closed solution, which supporters of 'open' continually attack. However, the fact is that Apple's ecosystem (iTunes, iOS, iPhone, iPod, iPad, Apple TV, FaceTime, Mac) provides a great deal of customer satisfaction as it 'just works'. Amazon likely wanted to move quickly, now that Apple is already working on streaming services and as the over 60 members of DECE continue at a snail's pace.
Telecompaper is organising for 27 April the Connected TV 2011 Congress, which will also devote attention to UltraViolet.
