Sony has launched their own challenge to Apple’s iTunes this week, dubbed Qriocity, which will be an unlimited, cloud-based music service available via the PlayStation 3 and other Internet-connected devices such as HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
The service will go live by the end of the year, giving users a chance to stream millions of songs in the cloud.
Besides the PS3, the service will be available on Sony portable media devices, Sony Blu-ray players, Sony home-theater systems, 2010 Web-enabled Bravia HDTVs and Windows PCs.
“We are excited to offer our customers high quality, cloud-based entertainment experiences across many of Sony’s network-enabled devices,” says Kazuo Hirai, president of Sony’s networked products and services group. “Services ‘powered by Qriocity’ will revolutionize the way that users play, listen, watch, share, communicate, learn, discover and create their digital entertainment content.”
Sony has said it will expand the Qriocity “Video on Demand” service which launched in April in the U.S. to France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K. in the fall.
The video service has content from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Lionsgate, MGM, NBC Universal, Paramount, Sony, The Walt Disney Company, and Warner Bros.
Result for: itunes
The long awaited Netflix Watch Instantly client for the iPhone and iPod Touch has finally arrived.
Netflix announced the availability of their free iPhone app in the iTunes App Store today. It requires iOS 3.13 or later.
The Watch Instantly service already allowed Netflix subscribers to stream video directly to devices including computers, Blu-ray players, HDTVs & game consoles. An iPad app has also been available since April of this year when the device launched.
A client for Android devices is also in development.
“We’re excited that our members can now carry Netflix around in their pockets and instantly watch movies and TV shows streamed from Netflix right to their iPhone or iPod touch” said Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings.
Result for: itunes
Apple has sent out invites for a music-themed event on September 1st, leading many to speculate that the company will finally announce an updated iPod Touch, likely one with a camera.
Historically, Apple has announced updates for their iPod lineup and for the iTunes media store in September.
Furthermore, many believe Apple will announce a new generation Apple TV, one that uses flash memory instead of a HDD, an ARM processor, and relies more on the “cloud.”
Apple is currently negotiating deals with CBS, Fox and Disney that would allow iTunes users to rent TV shows for 99 cents an episode. All appear close to signing off, at least for some of their programming.
While still speculation, it is believed Apple will add at least one camera to the updated iPod Touch, while updating the display to a higher resolution.
Apple declined to comment further on the event.
