We thought that this was the logical next step for Plex, and so here we are. Plex is currently beta testing what should be its premium cloud-based service called Plex Cloud, and it works exactly as you would think. You upload your media files to cloud storage and Plex on your device streams it from there. What could be more convenient than that?
The normal way for Plex users to usually stream their own media to their mobile devices was to keep an internet-connected home PC or NAS server always on at home, and allow that device to stream your media on demand. The downside to this setup is if you have an unbearably slow internet connection at home, or if there are multiple users sharing the internet connection with your server – the end result is usually a frustrating streaming experience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcWK3ealy9Y
Plex Cloud is currently working with Amazon Drive only (for now), and you can basically upload your media to your cloud drive and Plex will stream it from there. All of the minute details that happen on your Plex Media Server like transcoding, software updates, and the like will happen on the cloud, so you don’t need to worry about performance and power outages. Just upload and start streaming from Plex Cloud with better, more constant bandwith.
As of now, this is still on beta, and Plex is prioritizing Plex Pass subscribers. Soon they will be rolling this out to other Plex users for a premium fee, we suppose. If you want to sign up for the beta, check out the sign-up page here. Plex says they will be adding other cloud storage services soon.
SOURCE: Plex
I don’t understand how this is new…Plex has already been offering this functionality. Did they remove it and re-release it so that they could get it noticed more and start charging for it?