Livedrive app offers streaming media to Apple devices

Online storage service Livedrive has unveiled a client application for the iPhone and iPad, allowing users to stream video and music from their online account rather than storing media on the device itself.

Available immediately from Apple's App Store, the Livedrive App for iPhone & iPad allows users to stream their entire music, video and photo collection to an iPhone or iPad wherever they are, without the need to convert any of the media to an iTunes format, according to the firm.

The Livedrive service is actually cross-platform, and already allows Windows and Mac users to back up files online and synchronise files between several computers. Users can also access their files from any computer via a browser.

With the new mobile app, Livedrive users can now store multimedia files online, then stream them directly to an iPhone or iPad regardless of the format or size of the file.

Jamie Brown, general manager of Livedrive, explained that the app had been developed because people inside the company were frustrated by how hard it is to get video onto modern mobile devices.

"We believed this was a cool product, one that we'd love to use ourselves, so we were keen to make it a reality," he said.

The Livedrive app is a free download, but users need a Livedrive Backup account at £3.95 a month or a Livedrive Backup & Briefcase account at £9.95 a month.