It looks like everyone is trying to get in on the cloud buzz. Digital Music News reports that Charter Communications, the fourth largest ISP and cable provider in the US will be unleashing their own cloud drive service. However, unlike the major names currently putting their names in the cloud race, Charter’s cloud will not be a scan-n-match play, nor will it go beyond their own subscribers.
In other words, the Charter Cloud Drive is more so being promoted as an enhancement for their existing 5 million subscribers. The service will allow users to upload an access any type of file, everything from Excel spreadsheets to mp3s, that can be accessed through an online interface or desktop app. The first three months will be free and then a $5 or $10-a-month charge thereafter (depending on your existing plan), while storage is unlimited.
When Digital Music News reached out to Charter to ask questions regarding its mp3 capabilities, they confirmed that a collection of 20,000 songs could take days to upload, a similar issue Amazon and Google’s cloud services suffer from. One difference, though, is that there’s no splashy music play and does not need label’s licensing since there is no scan-n-match feature.
This news comes just a few days after Best Buy announced that their cloud service would be making its debut in the U.S. soon. Anyone want to bet on who’ll throw their hat into the cloud race next?
