Sony expands its iTunes rival across Europe

From CNET News.com: Designed as a cloud-based alternative to iTunes, Sony's new digital music streaming service has added a few more European countries to its audience, with the U.S. potentially next on the list.

Already available in the U.K. and Ireland, the company's "Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity" service hit France, Germany, Italy, and Spain this past weekend.

Offering music from Sony's own label as well as from other publishers, Music Unlimited gives consumers the ability to stream songs to a variety of different Sony devices, including Bravia TVs, Blu-ray players, home theater systems, PlayStation consoles, and Vaio PCs. Sony is also looking to launch the service on portable devices, both its own and those from third parties.

Music Unlimited follows Sony's "Video On Demand powered by Qriocity" service, which debuted in the U.S. last April and jumped abroad to Europe in November.

Though Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited give consumers a choice beyond iTunes, they work a bit differently. iTunes is designed to let people buy and store music, video, and other content locally on their devices. Sony's services operate strictly over the Internet with all the content stored in the cloud and streamed to each device on demand. When not connected, mobile devices will cache content so that users can still access their music and videos.

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