More on the iTunes Cell Phone 167
andyring writes "According to PC Magazine, a Motorola exec demoed the rumored iTunes cell phone. According to the article, the phone syncs with a computer and the iTunes Music Store like an iPod does, and incorporates the iPod interface for navigating and playing digital music." We've mentioned this before.
Worst of both worlds (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Worst of both worlds (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Worst of both worlds (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Worst of both worlds (Score:1)
if it ain't broke...
Re:Worst of both worlds (Score:1)
Re:Worst of both worlds (Score:3)
On the other hand, if you only want the phone, you would rather have a little thing that fits on top of one ear when in use. And if you only want some of the function, you expect
Re:Worst of both worlds (Score:3, Interesting)
Two years from now, I'm not going to want to have to get rid of my ipod so that that I can get the newest model phone.
Personally, I would preffer that device makers stick to making one thing work well instead of converging several items into one bulky and mediocre performing item.
Re:Worst of both worlds (Score:2)
Obviously if you prefer to have separate devices, you can purchase separate devices all you want. Right now, the market will decide whether separate devices or integrated ones (or both) will be made. So, your choices count!
Re:Worst of both worlds (Score:2)
Re:Worst of both worlds (Score:4, Insightful)
Seriously, if you are tired of new features taking up battery life, then don't use the feature or buy a phone with it.
Re:Worst of both worlds (Score:3, Informative)
I would have been happy to keep using my StarTac indefinitely except for the fact I couldn't get parts for it when they started wearing out. There wasn't anything like it on the market when I got a replacement. The LG I ended up with is slower, has taken wear and tear far worse, and doesn't offer any real improvements. The damn thing doesn't even have a ringer that sounds anything like a pho
Re:Worst of both worlds (Score:2)
Yes, but it plays Britney Spears songs!
Ringtones are a multi-billion dollar a year industry, which makes me incredibly sad.
Re:Worst of both worlds (Score:2)
Re:Worst of both worlds (Score:2)
Alls i want is a phone that is JUST a phone, long battery life, and won't break or fail at the drop of a hat like the newer ones.
If you know of one please point me at it. i'm sick of these new camera phones with color screens that dont' work anywhere nearly as good as cell phones used it.
Re:Worst of both worlds (Score:2)
Re:Worst of both worlds (Score:2)
Re:Worst of both worlds (Score:1)
Re:Worst of both worlds (Score:1)
Re:Worst of both worlds (Score:2)
Convergence will end when you have your Microsoft Windows phone/PC/media player 2050 with Windows Media Player 37 and full DRM installed directly into your brain.
Re:Worst of both worlds (Score:2)
maybe you actively seek for a laptop that can't play videos too...
Re:Worst of both worlds (Score:2)
seriously.
it might be difficult to find adverts for them, because they're not sexy to advert.
here's one [amazon.com], and here's another [amazon.com].
or n-gage qd if you fancy symbian, or nokia 1100 if you want just very very barebones.
Re:Worst of both worlds (Score:1)
Salling Clicker (Score:4, Interesting)
I used it just recently with the car stereo [purdue.edu] I installed. ;)
Re:Salling Clicker (Score:3, Informative)
Or you can use Bemused (Score:2, Informative)
Get it here [sf.net].
Someone's ported it to Linux too.
Re:Salling Clicker (Score:1)
In praise of Salling Clicker (Score:2, Informative)
I use it daily with my Sony Ericsson T68i and/or Palm Tungsten T3 to control iTunes without line of sight from anywhere in my (admittedly small) apartment. Integration, stability, user interface are all golden.
S Clicker makes a "device" out of this functionality, not a flashy demo app.
Re:Salling Clicker (Score:2)
Re:Salling Clicker (Score:2)
Re:Salling Clicker (Score:1)
Don't go from DC to AC back to DC!! Get a Kensington Car/Air adapter for your powerbook. As far as the speakers go, i might suggest a DC speaker system, maybe one that doesnt have a subwoofer...
No, not with any Bluetooth phone (Score:1)
The phone is so thin and sleek, but it's so impoverished when it comes to software.
Re:Salling Clicker (Score:2)
Will it sell well? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Will it sell well? (Score:3, Funny)
I-Don't know about that.
Re:Will it sell well? (Score:1)
Re:Will it sell well? (Score:2)
1) Right now it costs cell phone users, what, $2-$5 dollars to download a midi ring tones for their phone. And LOTS of people are buying them at these absurd prices. Apple will sell users of this cell phone the entire song for $0.99.
2) There are a whole lot more cell phone users than there are iPod users. A LOT more.
3) People do not want their pockets to be overloaded with stuff. You have your keys, wallet, cell phone, pda, mp3 player, whatever all fighting
Re:Will it sell well? (Score:5, Interesting)
Cell phone is even more a 'style' thing for people than an mp3 player. Take a look at how many accessories are available for a cell phone that you and I and most of
I am convinced that Apple is going to design one heck of a cell phone as far as style is considered.
And one more thing. Ringtones is already a multi-billion dollar industry. Now imagine iTunes providing tunes for ringtones. Yeah.
Buy AAPL. There is more juice left in that stock.
Re:Will it sell well? (Score:2)
The reason why small phones are "in style" is because carrying a big f-ing ear taco is a big hassle. A tiny phone which does the job is worth paying a lot more money. It's about function, not style.
The reason colors and accesories are popular is the same reason wh
Re:Will it sell well? (Score:4, Interesting)
If IBM, Alpine, and Pioneer think there is a market for car adapters for the iPod (to transform your car into an iPod sound system) why wouldn't the same market want a phone that can play all their AACs and MP3s after synching with iTunes?
It's not like the phone market is stagnant! People get new phones every few years, some of them at least.
Sorry - I have to reply to his sig... (Score:2)
Re:Will it sell well? (Score:1)
Re:Will it sell well? (Score:2)
not iTMS only.... it syncs with itunes application (Score:2)
the available info says it syncs with your comnputer (cable or bluetooth). it mentions using a special cell phone playlist on your iTunes app to pick the songs to transfer over. in that case it sounds like MP3 or AAC, and i am guessing it will somehow allow the DRM'd iTMS songs you may have purch
Re:Will it sell well? (Score:1)
Re:Will it sell well? (Score:2)
So? The rich need toys too you know!!!
This is not the final form factor (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=816
snip:
Update: According to sources, the phone shown above and elsewhere on the internet is not the rumored Apple-Motorola cell phone, but rather a development phone used for demonstrating the embedded version of iTunes that will be included with the Apple-Moto phon
Re:This is not the final form factor (Score:2)
That's funny. I mean, its true and all, but its not exactly news considering that the FA points this out in the fourth sentence:
But a Motorola representative clarified on Friday that the phone shown during the keynote was not the actual iTunes phone that is slated for release this year. Instead, it was a Motorola E398 equipped with the iTunes functionality for the d
Back to "dialing" the phone? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Back to "dialing" the phone? (Score:1)
Re:Back to "dialing" the phone? (Score:2)
I'm so pissed I can't buy a phone these days that does rotary dialing.
Actually I'm not0 I'm just short of karma and I figure that if I bitch about something lost due to evolution of technology, I'll get modded up.
Re:Back to "dialing" the phone? (Score:3, Informative)
Myself, I'll just continue using my Nokia 6630, which has MP3, AAC and OGG (with a plugin) playback at full 44.1 kHz 16 bit stereo goodness. Transferring music to the phone
Re:Back to "dialing" the phone? (Score:2)
It might be a nifty improvement, most cell phone buttons that I've are really stiff, I don't know if it is some sort of weatherproofing or not.
Oh yeah? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Oh yeah? (Score:2)
Re:Oh yeah? (Score:2)
haha, no iPhone (Score:2)
Re: no iPhone.. it's an e398! (Score:1)
e398 Review [mobile-review.com]
e398 Specifications [gsmarena.com]
Re:the start of the iPhone rumor (Score:2)
Woohoo! No more asstastic ringtones! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Woohoo! No more asstastic ringtones! (Score:1)
Re:Woohoo! No more asstastic ringtones! (Score:3, Funny)
And do you know why? (Score:1)
And why? Cos' the ringtone market has BY FAR larger
profit margins than the mobile handset industry itself.
Oh, and I told you so [mikeindustries.com]!
Re:Woohoo! No more asstastic ringtones! (Score:4, Funny)
Dude2: Sounds familiar, who is that?
Dude1: Thats 50 cent y0?!
Dude2: Right on. Where'd you get it?
Dude1: Verizon's dank ring tone store online
Dude2: Really, how much?
Dude1: Less than a buck. 99 cents.
Dude2: Hold up, you mean to tell me you paid 99 cents for a 50 cent ring tone
Dude1: Yeah, whats up?
Dude2: You paid 99 cents for... ahh fuck it, nevermind...
True story
Re:Woohoo! No more asstastic ringtones! (Score:2)
paying 2.99 for a "real music" ringtone (ie: actual audio, not midi) which is about 14-40 seconds worth of music.
when you can just buy the song off iTunes in FULL and better quality for $.99
and yes, i work for a ringtone company.
Re:Woohoo! No more asstastic ringtones! (Score:2)
Heh. I have a cheapy Motorola phone. (I want to say V-100 but I honestly don't remember for sure.) It plays back
Re:Woohoo! No more asstastic ringtones! (Score:2)
How long will it take.... (Score:3, Funny)
Plaintiff: But your honor, Apple is now in collusion with Motorola to extend their monopoly. Not only am I forced to buy an iPod to use iTMS, but now....I have to buy a phone too! Will the insanity never end?
Re:How long will it take.... (Score:2)
Ironic comment #65536: A convicted monopoly accuses another company of being a monopoly for not signing up to its Plays For Sure(TM) program.
User Interface? (Score:3, Interesting)
I'd say that was very-motorola to have an inconsistent user interface... tho to be fair i haven't used one of their phones since the early 90s.
Ummm.. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Ummm.. (Score:2)
I don't get it. (Score:2)
My current phone has more storage than my first three or four or five computers put together, but that isn't enough to want to use it as my music player.
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Motorola code quality - poor, very poor. (Score:1)
Re:Motorola code quality - poor, very poor. (Score:2)
They never did fix the problem, but reduced it to being manageable.
-1 Flamebait (Score:5, Funny)
Excuse me while I bouce this off Nokia's marketing department. BRB.
When will we see the Apple logo on a phone? (Score:3, Interesting)
The tech company most assossiated with style and hipness is Apple. If they made an iPod mini with a number pad, speaker and mic, which can be used to purchase whatever song you feel like hearing on your car trip or subway ride, there would be long lines of buyers - and a lot of spontaneous/impulse song purchases from iTunes (if the price was reasonable). There are lots of people with disposable income for whom this sort of instant gratification would quickly become irresistable.
Now sure, they could contract Motorolla to make a phone with similar specs, but the Apple logo itself would sell lots of units. Could this be their devious plan? Should it be?
smart friends (Score:2)
iPod + cellphone = rotary dial phone! (Score:2)
As far as I know, Apple has updated the iTunes software a couple of times since its first release.
Will cellphone producers realize at some point that, if they choose the "featuritis" path, it would be better to allow the consumer to perform a software update himself instead of having him mail the phone halfway across the country?
Re:iPod + cellphone = rotary dial phone! (Score:1)
Apparently phones are going retro for some strange reason.
Re:iPod + cellphone = rotary dial phone! (Score:2)
Kudos to Nokia for exploring design alternatives. If I can afford it, I might give it a try.
TFA is wrong (Score:4, Informative)
Great, but what about the other stuff? (Score:2, Insightful)
Dupe! (Score:2)
Wait, what??? Oh...
We've mentioned this before [slashdot.org]
If we're going to guess... (Score:2, Insightful)
First, I hope this thing is wrong about needing to connect to a computer to "do it's business". There should be a way to support impulse buying - preferably tied into some kind of recognition feature where you could hear something playing on the radio, sample it through the phone, and get a suggestion (or two
the phone syncs with a computer and the iTunes Mu (Score:1)
If it's playing back music then shouldn't it be called the iPod Phone instead of the iTunes phone?
Ear pieces for phones (Score:2)
cool, but (Score:2, Interesting)
Info on the demoed phone (Score:2, Informative)
This was NOT the iTunes/iPod phone!!! (Score:2)
The phone they *specifically* worked with Apple on will be shown by Apple. You really think Apple would be happy with Motorola showing it first? That's most definitely *not* the Apple way.
-psy
I've heard... (Score:1, Interesting)
From Phone to iPod back to Phone. (Score:1)
Pixo is the company that created the navigation interface that is used in the iPod. Before the iPod, and its eventual acquisition by Sun, their thing was making navigation systems for cellphones. Pixo created the system now known as the iPod OS specifically for navigating through thousands of music files on a cellphone. The orig
Demoed? But it's already available. (Score:1)
Article below says new mobile phone from Fujitsu (Panasonic) supports iTunes, and is in sale since last year.
Did I say it also has built-in IC-card, 2D barcode reader, video camera, and J2ME support? It's a cool product.
And if you're looking for MP3-enabled mobile phone, "Music Porter" mobile phone from Mitsubishi might come to your interest:
It looks like a varient of Nintendo GameBoy Advanced, but it's a mobile phone with built-in FM tuner, MP3 player, and camera.
Here's the hotlink (Score:2, Offtopic)
Re:iHome photos? (Score:1)
I call fake (Score:2)
Re:Phone & MP3 player? (Score:2, Insightful)
You're listening to music, you have an incoming call... and then what? You can't talk to somebody and listen to music at the same time.
...Maybe...you could "pause" the music?
Re:Phone & MP3 player? (Score:2)
If you think that's asinine, you must have missed the model that comes with a built-in computer and web browser. Who in the blue hell wants to surf the web on their fridge?
Re:Absolutely lammeee... (Score:2)
The last thing I want is a cell phone that uses the iPod wheel thingy. Feel is important for a phone. That way I don't have to go fumbling around to dial a number.
I don't think anyone is suggesting a cellphone without a keypad, although you never know. I'd actually be quite happy to have a wheel for my phone. 90% of my calls are people whose numbers are stored in my phone. Push a button, quickly scroll through a list, push dial. It would be much easier than what I do right now, push the phonebook butt
Re:Why no iPod with bluetooth support? (Score:2)