BARCELONA - Google will tie its rumored Google Music service into its upcoming Android Honeycomb mobile operating system, a Motorola executive said here at Mobile World Congress.
According to The Guardian, Motorola Mobility chief Sanjay Jha suggested that the benefit of having its upcoming Xoom tablet run on Android Honeycomb is that "it adds video services and music services."
"If you look at Google Mobile services [via Android] today, there's a video service, there's a music service – that is, there will be a music service," Jha said, according to the Guardian report.
Also at MWC, Jha confirmed that the Xoom will cost $799, unsubsidized, via Verizon Wireless, while the Wi-Fi-only version will cost about $600.
There have been rumors about a Google Music service for ages. It was last discussed during the 2010 Google I/O conference. At that point, Google said a user could stream music on an Internet-connected PC to an Android phone, and also purchase music in the Android App Store and send it to the phone or another devices. When asked if that meant Google was prepping a music sevice, Vic Gundotra, the vice president of engineering for Google, said "we just focus on delivering better apps for the user. Over time, you'll see that strategy more broadly unfold."
Google unveiled a music search function in October 2009, teaming with MySpace, Rhapsody, and the now defunct Lala and imeem, though that just pulled in links to those services' music clips in Google.com search results.
In September, Billboard reported that Google was circulating a proposal for Google Music among major record labels. This week, Billboard provided details on the executives at Google who are working on the project, including Andy Rubin, Google's vice president of engineering. Rubin has apparently pitched the service directly to labels, Billboard said, though it's unclear what his involvement in the service would be at launch.
Reporting to Rubin are two groups - one that focuses on creating the music service and another focused on finalizing label and publisher deals. Billboard has more details about all the executives involved.
At this point, the Honeycomb platform includes a Google Music app, but executives did not discuss any Google Music-esque service at its recent Honeycomb event, and Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. For more details, see PCMag's hands on with the upcoming OS.