As usual, I have snagged a Google Beta product before it is ready for use by all users. I got my invite about two weeks ago after waiting for a few weeks after they opened up the program. The product seems to be a decent idea that Google has been planning and getting ready to implement for a long time. From the looks of the service it is very well implemented and has a slick streamlined interface for both the app and web interface. On setup they give you some free music which was good because from my CR-48 there was no way to upload my music. The upload system in a PC or Mac based software package that scans your computer for music and uploads it to the Google Servers. This process can take days or weeks depending on the size of you library and the internet speed. I am currently on a decently fast setup in Oxford and I was able to put up close to three hundred songs in about an hour. Therefore I will be uploading another 3000 from my little sisters collection, which might take a few days. I feel that this is a stumbling stone for most users, the software is very simple to use but may be hard on the internet if you are using a slow collection or large music collection. Also Google has not enlightened us Beta users on the cost of this product. As of right now the service is free with a limit of around 20,000 songs. That is a lot of songs that could be uploaded to the cloud and then pulled down from most internet connected devices. At this point there is an Android app that can be used to access your music and stream it to your phone. One cool feature with this app is that it stores your most recently played songs so that they can be played offline. You can also manually choose which songs you want for offline use, but this will of course cut into the storage space on your device. I will be waiting for them to produce a iPhone app so that I can test of the mobile functionality of this product. My impressions at the moment are that this is a decent product with to many hoops to jump through before you can access your music. This thought has been spurned because of my use of AudioGalaxy which allows my entire music library be streamed via my "desktop" Dell which is always connected to the internet. For me this was a temporary solution to the fact that I have much more music than my iPhone can hold. But I feel that if Google can continue to work on this product and produce more details then I will be changing my views. A side-note through this process is that I am considering getting an Android powered device simply for the reason to test Google products before they develop the iPhone app. A stupid reason to trade "down" but I am considering.
All is Great in Oxford, the Lord, my Family, and Christ!!