WWDC 2011: iCloud Release Date & Prices for iTunes Match

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We have just shown you what iCloud has to offer, and it’s pretty clear we’re looking at a service that’s more than just a music streaming solution. So how does one get it?

Well iCloud comes with plenty of features, including the incorporation of former MobileMe perks (which used to cost $99) but Apple will sell it to you for free, as opposed to what we’ve heard before. But how will you get it? Well, with every iPhone purchase or upgrade (of course, without an iPhone, or iDevice, you won’t really be able to get an iCloud account it seems) you’ll get access to the iCloud via your iTunes ID.

Once you have that you also get 5GB of storage space for mail, documents and backup files, not including apps, books and photo stream, which is quite neat as it means you’d be getting over 5GB of actual storage space. Although one could always argue that the apps and eBooks are already stored on Apple’s servers, you’d just be able to download them free of charge as long as they have been purchased at a prior date.

Now that you know how much it costs, you’ll want to use iCloud immediately. But unfortunately the final version of iCloud will not be available until later in fall. What you’ll have access to is the beta version of iCloud, which will run on iOS 4.3 devices. Also starting today Apple will grant you access to iTunes in the cloud on iOS 4.3 devices, which is something you’ll want to check out especially if you have a huge music collection.

Speaking about music, Apple will also throw another iTunes music service your way called iTunes Match. For $24.99 per year iTunes Match will upgrade your songs to 256k AAC DRM free, and I’m talking about the kind of music that you didn’t get from iTunes, maybe the kind of music you didn’t purchase at all (wink, wink!)? Although that’s a line we’re yet to cross, and we’ll return to it later down the road. No matter how many songs you have, Apple will charge the same $24.99 per year, and will Match them in minutes, which is something Google and Amazon have to start thinking about right away.

What say you, iOS device owners, and not only, see anything you might like in this new iCloud product from Apple?