Apple starts testing iTunes Match

Update: Apparently what looked like a “stream” is really a simultaneous listen and download — users can hear the song while their machine ingests it. Apple is said to have streaming rights but the company doesn't trust the mobile service providers to provide a constantly usable connection to a cloud service to forego local playback altogether yet.
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A developer beta of iTunes Match just went live yesterday and brought with it a previously unannounced feature that will surely go a long way justifying its $25 annual price tag.
The service, announced during Apple's WWDC 2011 in June, scans your entire music library and compares it against some 18 million songs in Apple's database. Those that are matched -- even the ones that have been downloaded illegally -- will become available for download onto your devices as if you've purchased them via iTunes, the rest will be uploaded, and low quality songs will be upgraded to 256kbps AAC files.
Until now, Apple hadn't advertised streaming as part of iTunes Match, but now it has enabled the option. It could be that the company was still negotiating streaming rights with major labels when iTunes Match was announced, or perhaps it just decided to add the feature along the way. Whatever the case it seems Apple is ready to play hardball against Google and Amazon, which launched similar services earlier this year.
The move also puts Apple in direct competition with subscription services like Spotify or Rdio, as it gives users access to their entire music library through Wi-Fi or 3G without using up valuable space on their iOS devices.
The full iTunes Match and Apple iCloud are expected to go live in the fall when iOS 5 and the next iPhone arrive. Check out the video below for a short demonstration of the new music service in action:

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Amazon could sell five million tablets next quarter

Amazon could be looking to sell as many as five million tablets by the end of the year. Such sales would be contingent upon a sub-$300 price point and enough supply to meet demand, says Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps. Others seem to think that Amazon could come in as low as $249, a price that would significantly undercut Apple’s iPad.
Earlier this year it was rumored that Amazon was manufacturing two different tablets. The first would be an entry-level device codenamed Coyote (based on the dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 platform) and the second slate would be codenamed Hollywood (based on the quad-core Nvidia codename Kal-El platform, which is likely to be called Tegra 3).
Later rumors hinted that Quanta Computer would assemble processors developed by Texas Instruments, Taiwan-based Wintek's touch panels, and ILI Technology's LCD driver ICs.
It’s hard to fathom a Tegra 3 tablet with a sub $300 price tag, but if anyone could pull it off, it’s Amazon. Regardless of what hardware Amazon eventually brings to market, a $300 price point would likely mean the company is selling the tablet at a loss. Amazon could still make a hefty profit from the device from digital books, music, videos and apps sold to users.
This could be the first serious competitor to the iPad, as Apple primarily makes money from hardware sales on the iPad. It would be a long time before Amazon could steal the crown from Cupertino, but healthy competition is good for everyone, especially the consumer.
Amazon hasn’t said anything official about their tablet plans, nor would we expect them to ahead of launch. The most recent rumor for a launch window is sometime before October.

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