Motorola CEO hints at music-related announcements

Motorola's chief executive officer isn't offering any details about what the company may or may not announce during its annual financial conference this evening, but he has gone on the record to promise a lot of "music stuff."

The event, billed "MOTONOW," is scheduled to begin at 7pm CDT. Analysts and industry followers will be watching the event closely under the assumption the iTunes cell phone developed by Motorola and Apple may finally make its debut.

"We'll have a lot of music stuff for you this week," Ed Zander, Motorola's CEO, told the Chicago Tribune. Motorola will be webcasting Zander's presentation, which may include an appearance by Apple chief executive Steve Jobs. It was at the same event last year that Zander and Jobs (via satellite) announced a partnership between the two companies to deliver iTunes capabilities to Motorola cell phones.

Though Apple and Motorola have been relatively quiet about the upcoming release of the iTunes-enabled Motorola phones, some cell phone enthusiasts say they have obtained early copies of the mobile edition of iTunes, which will be available on certain Motorola handsets.

The mobile iTunes firmware — dubbed iTunes Mobile — will help users navigate the songs on their iTunes-compatible mobile phones from Motorola. According to reports, the iTunes Mobile work in conjunction with iTunes 4.9 to allow users to manage and transfer songs to iTunes-compatible Motorola cell phones via an USB cable.

Several members on the howardforums.com mobile community claim to have obtained a beta version of the upcoming firmware. In posts to the sites message boards, members say they've managed to install the firmware on a few existing Motorola phones with a few workarounds. Some members even reporting success with Bluetooth-based sharing.

Interestingly they noted that iTunes mobile beta software is limited to 25 songs, similar to previous reports and supporting rumors that Apple may offer an upgrade that will allow iTunes Mobile users to transfer additional songs to their Motorola phone using iTunes for Mac or PC. Sources speculate that this step was put in place by Apple to maintain a market for Apple's low-end iPod shuffle, which will likely be the first Apple product to see sales erode following the introduction of more mobile music servers for cell phones.

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23 Comments

new

said about 18 years ago

I really want to be amazed by this new phone... But I really am deeply unsure if they can pull it off. My next phone will probably be the k608i, unless Harald has some news to share that can change my mind...

amac4me

said about 18 years ago

I can't wait for the iTunes mobile phone. I think it will be a great way for Apple "to get into the hands" of more potential customers. It would be an excellent way to get more people to use iTunes and then eventually a Mac.

nagromme

said about 18 years ago

An Apple designed phone (or universal remote, or PVR, or movie player, or...) with iPod ease-of-use would be cool. But I don't expect it.

I expect nothing more than we already can assume: MOTOROLA hardware/controls/interface with no Apple help, PLUS added Apple software that works something like an iPod (but generally with low capacities and battery life).

That's fine, but not too exciting.

It would be fun if there's more to it though

thinkdifferent

said about 18 years ago

I agree, something about the ROKR name and the Motorola label that makes me cringe. It'll look just like every other motorola phone, nothing too exciting. I would really love it if Apple developed a phone completely independently!! Even an Apple phone service would be sweet!! I'm just thinking that we'll see another cheaply designed, run of the mill, Hello Moto...

cosmonut

said about 18 years ago

I'm thinking that a shoe-in for Moto and Apple to sell a bunch of these things is to put the word "iPod" in the name. That said "iTunes" in the name is the next best option. I guess we'll see.

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