Motorola postpones launch of iTunes phone

Motorola has indefinitely postponed the launch of its much anticipated iTunes phone, which the company had expected to debut at CeBIT on Thursday. According to a report in the Chicago Tribune the phone was indefinitely postponed "due to a last-minute message from a wireless carrier or carriers." The report describes the phone having a display screen akin to the iPod. "It is capable of holding 25 to about 100 songs, depending on how much a buyer wants to pay for memory cards," a Motorola executive said. Motorola now says the announcement will come closer to when the phone hits the market sometime this summer.

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3 Comments

tadunne

said about 19 years ago

If reports that the delay (or canceling) of the itunes phone was requested by the phone companies are true then it's only because the phone companies want to push their own music download service to go along with their new 3G services..

Orange in the UK have a music download service for their 3G phones, I think we get to choose from a whopping 6000 tracks!

iTMS quake in your boots!

Apple should just write a version that works with Nokia phones as an app people can download and install after market.

monkeyastronaut

said about 19 years ago

Idunno. I really love cell phones but I'm not sure I want my phone to merge with an MP3 player. I'd rather have more mini games, weather services, driving directions, ability to buy stuff from vending machines with my phone credit, better SMS services, that sort of thing.

For music you can have a dedicated device because it's easy to justify (and with $99 iPods this becomes even easier) and much better than having to rely on phones.

Then there's the problem of the memory cards. You'll spend hundreds on those little suckers and then hope your next phone will support them.

Cell phones are cool but in today's age they're pretty much disposable.

amorph

said about 19 years ago

The interface is the crucible: If they make it convenient and intuitive to use the phone as an MP3 player (remember, the competition is the iPod, whose interface is unrivalled even among dedicated MP3 players) then it stands some chance. If I have to go spelunking deep into the Motorola Menu Caverns and wait for iTunes to rouse itself from some deep subterranean sleep just to hear a song, screw it.

Gadget consolidation is not a simple matter of being able to cram more capabilities into the same size box. It will happen when, and to the extent that, the interfaces on the devices make access to all those features simple, quick and obvious.