Awhile back, Apple managed to generate a lot of buzz over a proposed update that would allow users to stream music directly to their iPhone 5. In a video that the company released, it showed a beta version of iTunes Match that allowed iOS users to store music in the iCloud and then stream the music directly to their iPhone 5 or any other iOS device. Now it seems, however, that this feature will not be featured in the new iOS versions. This was first noticed in the iOS 5 beta 7 that was released for developers.
The development does deserve a bit of attention because it gives us a rare glimpse of the ideas that bubble inside Apple’s head. Unlike its archrival Google, which just throws everything online and then works things from there, Apple only releases products online after a lot of careful research and development. Many great ideas have to be looked at multiple times before something is eventually released to the public, which also means we rarely get to see the creative drive within the company.
At the time of the release, people argued that it was not exactly streaming because the music was downloaded and temporarily stored on the iOS device’s cache. Still, it was unique and it allowed users to increase the memory and of the device by storing music and videos on-line on the cloud and then accessing it at any time. Thus, users will be spared the agony of having to delete their data every time they reach a limit. Perhaps, this is the reason why Apple has updated the feature so that when a user plays a track saved online, it is automatically permanently downloaded on to the iOS device. Whatever, the reason, it is a quite a disappointment. Perhaps we will get a better idea of Apple’s motives in time to come.
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