14 DAY TRIAL // Amazon has made modifications to its web-based Cloud Player music service to allow iPhone and iPad owners to access their Drive and stream music to their devices.
Previously unavailable on iOS because of Flash restrictions imposed by Apple, the Amazon Cloud Player now renders well in the Safari web browser, albeit with limited functionality, TechCrunch reports.
Amazon apparently rolled out an update for the platform over the weekend enabling owners of an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad to stream and listen to the songs they have stored online on Amazon’s servers.
Naturally, only Amazon Drive account holders will be able to access the service and the functions (as noted above) are limited to streaming existing playlists.
Uploading, for example, still requires Flash.
And while the service does say that iOS is not supported, users can simply ignore the warning and proceed with streaming their tunes, those who’ve tried it out are reporting.
Of course, Apple itself is rumored to be preparing the launch of a similar service. In fact, Apple’s is expected to deliver much more.
Another advantage will be that Apple’s cloud locker (as speculators call it) will be a native implementation in iOS - an app.
Amazon can attempt to thwart Apple by coding its own Cloud app for iOS devices, but it is fairly possible that even non-Apple fans will flock to give Apple’s new iCloud a try, if only just because of all the hype.
So it really comes down to whose cloud services will be the most advantageous for the end-customer.
If rumors of Apple slashing the MobileMe price are to be considered, we could be in for quite the ‘war of the clouds.’
Those reading this on their iDevice can access Amazon’s Cloud Player here.