Google To Take On iTunes?

An anonymous reader writes 'Multiple sources say Google is preparing to launch Google Audio. According to people familiar with the matter, Google has been securing content from record companies. Is Google about to go head-to-head with Apple's iTunes?'

Comments

What about the player?

[scottblascocomposer]

I'd be thrilled if Google could do a music player analogue of Picasa. I've always hated iPhoto, and Picasa is great. A similar product to displace iTunes would be incredibly welcome (and yes, I've tried Songbird; maybe someday, but it's not there yet).

Re:What about the player?

[slifox]

Music Player Daemon (mpd) has the right idea: separate the playing backend and the user interface. The result is an easily-interfaceable (many, many clients for all platforms, web, etc) and reliable player that rarely (never for me) crashes, and will continue to play even if X dies (which makes repairing X a little more enjoyable).

My favorite client is QMPDClient, which is cross-platform and has a good user interface for easily switching between the Library view (3-section Artist/Album/Songs), the Directories view (which shows the Music directory as a folder tree), and the Playlist view (for saving or loading playlists). The directory view is the big selling point for me, because I have my music folder well organized by genre, artist, album, but not necessarily well organized as far as ID3 tags go.

Here's a screenshot: http://dump.bitcheese.net/images/batidij/qmpdclient-win32.png

It's definitely worth a try...

MPD: http://mpd.wikia.com/
QMPDClient: http://bitcheese.net/wiki/QMPDClient
Other MPD Clients: http://mpd.wikia.com/wiki/Clients

Re:What about the player?

[N1AK]

Picasa is one of the few pieces of software that impresses me, and continues to impress me more with each revision. From the way it imports and sorts, through the quality of its automated colour/light fixing to features like face recognition, online gallery integration and tagging it makes organising 'home' photos a pleasent experience rather than a task.

Maybe better software exists, and it probably isn't as useful to serious photographers but everyone I've shown it to from Grandparents to early teens have become loyal users.

Its a Fractal

[NETHED]

This, if true, will only hasten the divide between the two tech darlings Google and Apple.

Apple has a vested interest in maintaining their defacto monopoly on online music sales though their vertical product pipeline. The Zune is no real threat, as Microsoft does not have the mindshare. Google, with Android, have significant clout, and potentially enough mass to unseat Apple from the head of the online music sales table.

Apple has done very well with the iPhone, but if history is our guide, they did very well with the original Macintosh. Fast-forward a few years to now, and the story is being repeated. Apple is dominant with their iPhone platform, but Steve Jobs is too obsessed with removing buttons from mice to loosen his grip on the brand. This has help Apple survive, but it ultimatly leads to Apple's cyclical demise.

Anyway, Google launching a music app will cause Apple to remove Google maps, and Youtube integration from their products. In the end, Google (openness) will win over the closed Apple system. Yes, the Apple devices will be pretty, but the Google stuff will work well enough, be less expensive, and have 95%+ of market share. (Its like we've seen that before somewhere....)

Re:Its a Fractal

[mjwx]

Apple iPhone released in 2007, in the midst of the current recession.

The recession didn't start in 2007, it started in late 2008. For Australia the height hit in feb/mar 2009 and is practically over now.

2007 was when economies were booming.

As for you GP post I agree, it will be Apple's pathological need for control that will be its downfall, it's all happened before. Google is positioning itself to take advantage of Apple's fall, especially since most of Google's ties to Apple have been severed.

Re:Its a Fractal

[Saint Fnordius]

I think the real reason Apple is so reluctant to allow apps on the iPhone is fear that one malicious app could destroy the ecosystem. That's why they first decided to not allow apps, at least not until they had the store set up.

I personally think Apple needs to have two delivery methods to the iPhone: the app store, where Apple can act as your gatekeeper, and through the developer environment, where you compile from source code and assume all responsibility for whatever bugs are in the software. Thus the only way to distribute outside of the app store would be to give away the source code. (The same thing goes for Android: either trust the app store tied to your phone or compile the code yourself)

Re:Its a Fractal

[koiransuklaa]

Probably not, but you are one of the 500 million people who are allowed to use amazon MP3 store. The rest of us can't.

Buying DRM-free music online is pretty damn hard without itunes here...

It's a music search feature

[tlhIngan]

According to TechCrunch, it's a music search with the option to do limited streaming. So you can search for music, preview them, then either use those services to buy or use iTunes/Amazon to buy it.

A little sample of what's to come

[clem]

Google audio (BETA)

Lyric Search: Carry a laser down the road that I must travel

Did you mean: Kyrie eleison down the road that I must travel?