Streaming media service Lala goes byebye, will iTunes.com take its place?

Streaming music service Lala closed its virtual doors today. Acquired by Apple last year, rumors persist that Lala talent and technology will be a part of an upcoming iTunes.com service that moves Apple music, movie, and TV offerings to the cloud.

Recent leaks about an iPhone OS-powered Apple TV that would stream content directly from iTunes seem to play into these rumors, as do Apple's huge data center being built in North Carolina and iTunes Preview, the new web-based front-end to iTunes media and app content.

Still, that might be the future, but as of today Lala is no more.

[Lala.com]

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.