What if all that was required to access all your files and your desktop was an Internet connection? These days computers are used synonymously with the Internet and it's pretty tough to do work on one without the other. While Google and Microsoft battle for the environment and programs we work in and with, who battles for the right to hold our media and our content?

Two companies have shown up in the last week ready to do battle. Glidedigital.com offers what they call a “smart user interface,” to store your music, photos, videos, and documents. Without being able to contact the developers or review their offerings I am unable to comment any further on their usefulness or ease of use.

The other company, mp3tunes.com has finally lifted the veil off their super secret, covert web application codenamed Oboe. With DVD John working on the project and Michael Robertson as chief executive some were expecting something a little more subversive than what turns out to be simply an online storage solution for music. However, I am impressed with the mp3tunes.com showing.

Allowing a user to store and stream music is nothing new. The ability to “sync” music to another computer is new and on the fringes of legal. At the basic service level (free) Oboe allows users to add content freely available on the Internet, and stream music at 56k. With the Premium account ($40.00 a year) users are allowed to upload music, sync music back to any computer, and stream music at 128k.

I've tried out Oboe, with support for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux it's a service that impresses. Several tools are offered with mp3tunes.com, besides support for Firefox, there's an extension that allows you to upload music offered on the Internet, directly to mp3tunes.com without first downloading it, for later listening. U.S. $40.00 is a lot to spend a year, but it might be worth it to pay for a service willing to not only store and sync your music but also incorporate new technology, something the Recording Industry has shown that they are reticent to do.