Apple to host videos in the cloud

Following the talks of Apple moving iTunes music libraries into the cloud, the company is planning the same for iTunes video and has been talking about the idea with content providers.

After Apple's acquisition of music-streaming service Lala late last year, Apple reportedly had plans to host iTunes libraries in the cloud, which now seems to include purchased videos and all other media.

Apple's move into the cloud could be a significant step away from the traditional model of using hard drives to store data, and is a sign of the rapid spread of cloud technology, first in business and now in personal computing.

A story by Macworld reports that Apple has been trying to sell the idea of cloud storage to content providers, both record labels and major film studios. The benefit for Apple is that if users no longer have to worry about managing space on their hard drive and computer, they might be more inclined to purchase more content from the iTunes store.

The move would also free up space on Apple mobile devices, allowing for more ambitious apps and uses of the iPad, iPod and iPhone. Freeing up space from content on mobile devices might mean that users will consider buying larger, more robust apps that aren't just related to gaming and have other uses.

Putting entire iTunes libraries in the cloud would allow users to access their media on-the-go using either wi-fi or 3G on a variety of "internet-connected devices".