We already talked about one crazy iTunes metadata patent today, but I couldn’t resist this one. Apple’s filed a patent on a way for iPhone and iPod touch users to access their iTunes libraries from anywhere they can get a network connection.
The sneaky system would sync metadata (i.e., the data about data that iTunes stores, such as track names, artists, etc.), so it would appear to you—the unsuspecting user—as though your iPod or iPhone were full of all the great—and, occasionally, not-so-great—music that you enjoy listening to. But in fact, when you selected a song to listen to, your device would use its network connection to go back to your central iTunes library and stream the song from there. The patent also suggests that such technology could be used for peer-to-peer sharing between iPhones and iPod touches, as the Zune allows (and which the record industry is no doubt a big fan of).
This, to me, is the ultimate slick. I can’t fit my entire iTunes library on my iPhone, but I’m terrible at cutting it down, so I end up just syncing with whatever’s on my MacBook. Then, when I realize that what I really wanted to listen to was the German version of “I Want To Hold Your Hand” (“Komm gib mir deine Hand”, if you must know), I end up just having to sing to myself. Trust me—nobody wants that.
This fits with at least a couple of other existing technologies that Apple has developed, like Back to my Mac and the iPhone/iPod touch Remote application, and it would continue the MobileMe trend of making your devices into windows on your data, which is stored off in the mysterious cloud.
[via Apple Insider]
Nice. I see this as one way by which the iPhone and Touch can compete with the mammoth space offered by the Classic.
Maybe they could allow Wifi streaming from iTunes servers for all the movies and TV shows one has purchased. :dreams: