Apple Still Trying to Land Films, TV Shows for iCloud

In the past several weeks, Apple executives have stepped up their attempts to convince some of the major Hollywood film studios to issue licenses that would enable Apple to store its customers' movies on the company's servers, two sources close to the negotiations told CNET. Apple began discussing a cloud service with the studios over a year ago.

Feature films could be part of iCloud

Apple announced today that next Monday, the start of the company's Worldwide Developers Conference, it will unveil the iCloud, a long-anticipated service that will enable users store and access their digital media from Apple's servers via Web-connected devices. The cloud is the term used to describe when consumers rely on third parties instead of their own PCs for computing tasks and this is where digital entertainment is supposedly headed. CNET reported that Apple has licensing deals with three of the top four record labels and is closing in on reaching an agreement with the fourth, as well as the large music publishers.

Apple is expected to help take cloud services out of the world of high-tech enthusiasts, the so-called early adopters, and introduce them to the mainstream. The talks between Apple and the studios are ongoing but Apple has run into several problems, including one that could prevent it from offering flicks from at least three of the big film studios, the sources said.