With Apple continuing to build a $1 billion data center in Maiden, N.C., that rivals the largest such facilities in the world, some executives in the online music industry believe that Apple is poised to announce an Internet-powered version of iTunes that would do away with the need to download songs.
By RYAN NAKASHIMA, AP Business Writer
Fri Apr 30, 6:35 pm ET
LOS ANGELES – Apple Inc. is shutting down its newly bought Lala online music service amid speculation it is creating a way for iTunes customers to listen to songs stored on distant computers.
The move comes just weeks before an annual conference for developers in San Francisco on June 7 at which the secretive company tends to announce big news. Last year, it used the conference to unveil the latest version of its popular iPhone, the 3GS.
With Apple continuing to build a $1 billion data center in Maiden, N.C., that rivals the largest such facilities in the world, some executives in the online music industry believe that Apple is poised to announce an Internet-powered version of iTunes that would do away with the need to download songs.
Such a move would pit Apple, the largest online music retailer, against smaller companies that offer ways to deliver music to mobile devices using "cloud computing," a remote-storage system that potentially challenges iTunes and its reliance on downloads and personal storage space.
"Whatever they bought Lala for, it is likely to be integrated into iTunes," said Michael Gartenberg, a partner at technology consulting firm Altimeter Group. "It's no surprise they're shutting this down."
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Get real. Apple bought LaLa to kill it after a decent interval. It’s absurd to think LaLa had some kind of tech the Cupertino Communists needed.
LaLa was very nice...RIP LaLa and f Steve Jobs
Jobs probably bought LaLa to keep google from buying and building on it. The Cupertino Communist Criminals perhaps got some “rights to broadcast” from the LaLa purchase