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Google Prepping iTunes Competitor, Reuters Reports

by Terrence O'Brien on September 4, 2010 at 11:00 AM

Google Music
It should come as no shock that Google wants to take on the iTunes ecosystem directly. As our portable devices continue to converge, smartphones are increasingly performing music playback duties. Whereas Apple has a tightly integrated iTunes store and app package, Google has... well, nothing really. There's an Amazon music store app on most Android phones, but Google wants in on some of the hot digital audio action. A dedicated service for syncing or streaming music to Android handsets would also help close the gap (a product that Google suggested would be coming with Android 3.0, Gingerbread, back in May).

Reuters reports that Google wants to have the music store and streaming/syncing service in place for Gingerbread's launch later this year, but there's one problem: Google has yet to sign a single licensing deal with the major record labels -- though Reuters says companies are eager to partner with the Web giant. With only four months to go before 2010 comes to a close, Google will have to work quick to get the labels on board and a product out the door. With the purchase of Simplify Media earlier this year, we know the company has at least some of the streaming technology in place, but that service piggybacked off your existing music library. Building a store from the ground up is going to take a lot more work.

Tags: gingerbread, iTunes, itunes store, ItunesStore, Simplify Media, simplifymedia, streaming music, StreamingMusic, top

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