ReadWriteWeb

When Amazon launched its new Cloud Drive a few weeks ago, it prompted a debate in the ReadWriteWeb editorial room about whether or not the future of music involved downloads and ownership - as supported by Amazon's cloud stage - or streaming and subscription - as provided by any number of music startups, like Rdio and Spotify. The ReadWriteWeb writers kept our discussion focused on music, but the debate could easily extend to any number of digital media now in Amazon's catalogue: movies, magazines, books.

We're familiar with these streaming and subscription services when it comes to music and movies (Netflix, Hulu for example). But books? Will we (can we) rent books?

Few events cause such widespread speculation and exuberance as an Apple product announcement, and the company has scheduled one for tomorrow, March 2. Apple is expected to announce the iPad 2, the first upgrade to its massively popular tablet.

Many of the rumors circulating about the iPad 2 involve the upgrades to the tablet's hardware, which according to a number of reports is expected to be thinner than the current model and therefore lighter as well. It seems a given that the iPad 2 will have at least one camera, something lacking in the first version, and there are several reports that it will have two - a front-facing camera for video, perhaps, and a rear-facing camera for photos. There's also talk that the new iPad will have more memory and a better graphics processor. ReadWriteWeb's live coverage will begin right here at 9 AM PST - we hope you'll join us.

Since announcing its new subscription plan last week, Apple's move to collect a 30% cut of revenue has had raised the ire of a number of developers and commentators. Mike Melanson offered a round-up on some of the initial reactions, that ranged from "greedy" to "anti-competitive" to "Brilliant, Brazen or Batsh*t Crazy.

Apple's 30% fee is posing problems for a number of companies and developers - those who've built their businesses around the existing rules, for example, and those who don't have the margins to be able to hand over such a cut to Apple. Companies that have raised questions about the new policy run the gamut - music streaming services, e-book sellers, and software-as-a-service developers; big companies and startups alike.

Sony joins a number of music streaming services today with its launch of "Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity." The service has been available in parts of Europe since last year, and arrives in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand today.

Membership will start at $3.99 a month, with a $9.99 per month subscription that will give you on-demand access to the Music Unlimited catalog and with the ability to suggest music you might like based on the songs you already own or listen to. The service boasts more than 6 million songs, giving Sony Music Entertainment and its partners in the endeavor - Universal Music Group, EMI Music and Warner Music Group Corp - the ability to sell directly to customers.

Apple announced the availability of its new subscription service in the App Store today. This service extends the billing service made available with the recent launch of News Corp's The Daily.

That means that subscriptions purchased from within the App Store utilize the same billing system that's used to buy apps and make in-app purchases. Publishers will be able to set the price and the length of the subscription - weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, bi-yearly, or yearly. Apple touts this one-click subscription and renewal option, which will give customers the ability to manage all their subscriptions - including cancellations and payments - from within their iTunes account page.

Yesterday's launch of The Daily, Rupert Murdoch's iPad-only newspaper, marked the introduction of Apple's new subscription model - a way for publishers to offer renewable subscriptions to their app-based content. And while Apple is heralding the move as a way for publishers to get more customers, some are uneasy about the company's efforts to channel all billing and delivery through its iTunes marketplace.

The concern comes, in part, as a response to news on Tuesday that Apple had rejected Sony's e-reader app as it allowed users to buy as well as read books from the Sony Reader store. That rejection caused immediate speculation (verging on panic) that this would have huge ramifications for other apps that do something similar - namely, the Amazon Kindle app, the Netflix app, the Barnes & Noble Nook app, and so on.

Reports of declining iPad magazine sales are a good reminder that neither Apple nor publishers have really nailed the content and delivery of magazines in a digital format. And a story tonight in The Wall Street Journal reports that Google may be working to take advantage of this opportunity by setting up its own digital newsstand for Android.

Google has discussed its plans with a number of publishers, including Time Warner, Condé Nast and Hearst Corp, but according to the story, the details and timing are "vague." And it's possible that the venture won't materialize.

The rumors about a paid subscription service coming to Hulu have turned out to be true, as the online video hub has announced Hulu Plus - a premium service that will give users access to more content on more platforms for a monthly fee. For $9.99, subscribers will be able to access full seasons of shows on Hulu.com, on apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, on Internet-enabled TVs and BluRay players, and on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 gaming consoles.

There's a reason why vanity URLs, personalized profile pages and recommendation systems are so popular. To a customer or site visitor, there's nothing more interesting than themselves. As the CEO of web tracking and sales conversion site Genius.com, former CMO of online meeting tool WebEx and author of Sales 2.0 for Dummies, David Thompson knows a thing or two about the customer psyche. Thompson spoke to ReadWriteWeb and explained why today's landscape makes it the toughest in history to make a sale. And for once, it's got nothing to do with the down economy.

Capitol Hill is abuzz as Comcast and NBC Universal defend their merger in an antitrust investigation before the Senate Judiciary Committee. While a number of interest groups are commenting on the potential acquisition, Boxee CEO Avner Ronen's blog post offers some hints at how the merger could affect the environment for web TV startups.