Apple rumored to be developing new audio format designed for iCloud streaming

Apple is reportedly working on a new audio file format for iCloud service. The new audio format will offer improved streaming and "high-definition" quality of music allowing users to access music they obtained from sources outside of iTunes over the iCloud service.

"A source with inside knowledge of the process says Apple has asked a London studio to prepare audio files for a new streaming format that will adapt to bandwidth or hardware capabilities," the report said. It quoted an unnamed person who said users' libraries would "improve in an instant," and nothing would need to be done to upgrade files from the current AAC format to high definition.

The U.K. publication said the timing of the rumor "suggests it will showcase the new streaming technology alongside the announcement of the third generation of its iPad tablet." Apple is expected to hold a media event on March 7 to unveil its next iPad.

The first indication that Apple was working on a high-definition audio format came from artist Neil Young, who said at a conference last month that he worked directly with late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs on the project. Young indicated the new music format would offer fans uncompromised studio-quality sound in the form of digital music downloads.

"Steve Jobs was a pioneer of digital music," Young said. "His legacy is tremendous. But when he went home, he listened to vinyl. And you gotta believe that if he lived long enough, he would have eventually done what I'm trying to do."