"A cloud-based music service is potentially very strong for Android, for advertising, for general stickiness," Gottheil said. "But it's more a shot at Apple than at FaceBook."

However, Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group, disagreed, noting that music, gaming and movies could be part of a Google social network.

"Certainly, this could be social because you could share what you're listening to with all your friends," said Rob Enderle,. "This certainly could be used as a first step to Google starting a social network."

Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at or subscribe to . Her e-mail address is .

in Computerworld's Cloud Computing Topic Center.