Oxford, MS 6/6/2011 (PennyPayDay) -- Apple Inc Chief Executive Steve Jobs returns on Monday to the stage at San Francisco's Moscone center to take the wraps off what investors hope will be the next source of growth for the world's most valuable technology company.Jobs, who has been on medical leave for months and last took the stage in March to present the iPad 2, will unveil the iCloud, a Web-based service that lets consumers stream music they bought to any Apple device, pitting it against rivals Google Inc and Amazon.com Inc.
That expansion into cloud computing is seen as crucial if the company is to stay competitive with increasingly popular open-sourced software, such as Google's Android operating system, according to analysts and investors.
The iCloud has the potential to make Apple's iTunes even more powerful, making it tougher for rivals to keep up, Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu said.
"It looks like Apple will likely offer some base service for free," Wu said. "Competitors, including RIM, Google, Amazon and Microsoft already have a hard time competing with iTunes as it is, but we believe will likely find it even tougher with iCloud enhancements."
The Moscone center in San Francisco -- ground zero in the launch of several iconic Apple gadgets such as the iPad -- was a hive of activity this week as workers put the finishing touches on banners featuring a giant Apple logo.
Apple has been busy wrapping up negotiations with major record labels to secure licenses for its iCloud service, which is also expected to include a revamped version of its little-known MobileMe storage service.
The licenses will help Apple introduce scan-and-match technology that scans a user's hard drive and provides access to music found there from the company's own servers.
Currently, Google and Amazon require users to upload their library of songs.
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