Motorola Cancels iTunes Phone Launch; Rollout Possibly March 23 (UPDATE)
TMO Reports - Motorola Cancels iTunes Phone Launch; Rollout Possibly March 23 (UPDATE)
by , 6:45 AM EST, March 10th, 2005
Motorola Inc. has postponed the planned launch of its first iTunes-capable phone following what sources report are problems between the company and wireless carriers who want a bigger stake and more say in the rollout of music-ready mobile phones. It's possible negoitations with the carriers could be worked out in time for the rollout of the product at a industry event on March 23 in Miami.
Motorola spokeswoman Monica Rohleder told the Chicago Tribune that the company decided not to unveil the phone Thursday at the CeBIT electronics convention in Hannover, Germany after discussions late Wednesday night with "our operators", meaning carriers such as Cingular, Vodafone, Verizon and T-Mobile.
"Motorola discussed the logistics of this product with our carriers across the globe and we decided to wait to announce it when everybody is in sync with it," Ms. Rohleder said.
Motorola was expected to officially announce its E790 mobile phone Thursday, with the capability to store and play music downloaded from the iTunes Music store (iTMS). The phone was reported to have eight hours of music storage capability.
If issues are resolved between Motorola, Apple and the carriers, there is speculation a different iTunes-ready phone -- the Motorola ROKR -- could debut at the Miami Music Multimedia (M3) conference, set to begin March 23 in Miami.
"Over the course of the year, you'll see more (iTunes) devices," Alberto Moriondo, Motorola's global director of entertainment for mobile devices, told the Reuters news agency.
The real issue: More money for the carriers
Although Ms. Rohleder would not elaborate on the issues at hand, industry watchers say its all about money and control for the wireless carriers, who want to make sure they get their take of revenue from the phone and the service.
At the heart of the problem is the way the technology works. Although the iTunes-ready phone can store and play songs, it does not download music over the carriers network. Instead, a user would capture music files via a Bluetooth connection to a personal computer that has Apple's iTunes software on it and a connection to the Internet.
By not downloading music through a mobile phone call to a Internet connection such as America Online, the carrier is pushed out of the equation and is denied the chance to make more money from its subscriber.
"That is where the whole problem lies," Jon Gales, president and chief correspondent for the mobile phone news site MobileTracker.net told The Mac Observer. "Carriers have spent a ton of money building up their data networks and they want people to buy music, just like they buy ring tones, weather forecasts and news now. They don't want people to put music on their phones unless they can make some money out of it. It's just that simple."
Mr. Gales said a prime example of a carrier wanting to force its customers to spend more money is the recent crippling of the Bluetooth capabilities on Verizon Wireless phones.
"Verizon Wireless has taken a lot of heat lately for making it so that you can only use Bluetooth on its phones with a wireless headset," he said. "You can't use it to transfer data, say from a Mac. They're doing that to force you to download stuff over their data network so they can make more money."
Mr. Gales said its difficult to determine exactly what the carriers want if they know they can't make any more money on music downloads.
"It's difficult to figure out what it is they really want," he commented. "They make money when they get new customers and sell you a phone, but obviously they want more...I can't see a way around this, based on how the technology works."
Mr. Gales commented that Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs has been adamant that consumers have a right to buy their music from wherever they want to and play it on whatever device they would like without having to pay more.
"(Mr.) Jobs says it's all about choice, but the carriers are saying they want to offer choice and make some money too. It's going to be interesting how they work this out," Mr. Gales said.
Observer Comments
Thu Mar 10, 2005 8:50 am Subject: Everyone wants to be the RIAA
Quote"Motorola discussed the logistics of this product with our carriers across the globe and we decided to wait to announce it when everybody is in sync with it," Ms. Rohleder said.
The reason for the delay: "The logistics of this product with our carriers across the globe," she said. "We decided to wait to announce it when everybody is in sync with it."
Buh-wha? Was that important enought to say it twice?
OK, now back to business. What part of the "logistics" is there to work on here? Are any of the carriers looking at their own music store?
Edit: OK, the last half of the article is up now. I see what the main issue is.
Money-sucking bastiches.
Since the Mobile Providers are in deed trying to sell music on phones, this is not going to ba an easy market for Apple to break in to. That being said, this is going to be to ultimate music experience.
I just launched a forum for the iTunes Phone. Not many member yet, but check it out and post if you like.
http://www.itunesphone.com
We need to band together and make it known that the carrier that allows iTunes music to be loaded onto the Motorola phone without going through the carrier will be the one to get our cell phone business!
Which carrier will be bold and be the first to do so? When it happens, let's all switch, especially since rate plans and good coverage are getting pretty close (at least in the New England and Mid-Atlantic areas).
Kevin
QuoteB-sabre wrote:
Are any of the carriers looking at their own music store?
Some might, but even that's not the issue here. With a phone like this, they expect people to be buying from iTunes. But it's not the music sale they want. They want to charge you for the time and bandwidth it takes to download the song from your computer to your cell phone. If you can do it over bluetooth, it would be free. If you have to send it from your computer to your phone with a cell phone call...well then they can charge for that.
THAT's what they're interested in...not actually selling the music.
Jack Asses.
Thu Mar 10, 2005 10:23 am Subject: Laugh Of The Day - Jobs "It's About Choice"
This will kill the idea for the majority of potential buyers, IMO. Most people (not all by any means) are fed up with the nickle-and-dime charges that the phone companies continue to add. Fortunately, humans are pretty ingenious and I'm sure there will be a way to sidestep any barriers the phone companies put up (you can sidestep the current Verizon Bluetooth block with a data cable and programmer's software, but you have to do some work to get it set up). Unfortunately, most phone buyers aren't going to bother - they'll just buy something else and keep their iPods for music.
Thu Mar 10, 2005 10:33 am Subject: Re: Laugh Of The Day - Jobs "It's About Choice"
QuoteRealityCheck wrote:
The king of closed proprietary systems says he wants choice. You gotta be kidding. Mac OS only available on his machines, iPod users can only download music from his iTunes store. Jobs hates competition so he can get free jets and exorbitant stock options. Sorry Steve but everyone doesn't have to buy music from your music store.
I think you clicked the wrong thread or something. This one is about Motorolla and cell-phone service providers.
Steve Jobs has nothing to do with either of those businesses. Did you know that?
This makes the buying decision easy for me - I won't be a customer if the carriers won't allow me to load music on the device without paying a fee (throw in the OPTION to buy via the phone and pay for download airtime if you must).
This is a non negotiable for me. I like my iPod mini just fine. Having it iTunes built intothe phone would be great - but I have lined the moble phone maker pockets for over a decade and I won't be buying a camera phone or a phone that charges me to load songs I already paid for.
The compromise should be:
1. Allow bluetooth transfer of iTunes music (including iTunes autofill).
2. Allow impulse purchasing over cellphone network from the iTunes Music Store but carriers can charge for the airtime (and get .05 from Apple per song in the same way that iTunes affiliates do).
My thought is Apple is not yet ready to unveil support for point 2; it might be related to using MPEG-4/H.264.
Thu Mar 10, 2005 11:35 am Subject: Untrustworthy as the tobacco industry
My latest phone diverts all calls to voice mail after 15 seconds. The 15 seconds is not adjustable, the voicemail can not be turned off. Included minutes do not include retrieving voice mail.
I thought I had done my research before purchase but I never imagined a phone would be limited in such a way. I have been a mobile phone owner since 1986, the only real improvements I have seen is in battery life and reduced size.
Radiation from mobile phones DOES cause illness and has been known about in the industry since before I got my first phone in 1986 as two independent authoritative sources verified in the research I did before I got my first phone.
Thu Mar 10, 2005 12:37 pm Subject: Future Dial to the rescue!
Hey i know that they only seem to make PC-centric software but this company is on the right track. They put the control of the phone back into the consumer's hands, where it should have been this entire time. This crap about disabling certain features (like transferring of data) is stupid. Hopefully someone can come up with similar solutions for Mac users.
RC - when are you graduating high school? I wanna come and help the others kick your butt into the real world.....
Thu Mar 10, 2005 12:38 pm Subject: Future Dial link
Thu Mar 10, 2005 1:57 pm Subject: RC, surely doesn't stand for Reading Comprehension...
...seeing as you can't tell that Steve Jobs said nothing about "choice. It was Mr. Gales. Got it?
As for "free jets and exorbitant stock options", the Board of Directors decides on compensation, not Steve.
The one thing you're right about is that consumers don't "have to buy music from [iTMS]". The fact is, they CHOOSE to do so.
? the article is about a motorola cellphone the D/L's MP3s via Bluetooth from Steve's Itunes service. The cell
$#!% service providers want a phone that gets MP3s through their $$ datapath $$.
--Ken
QuoteSmall White Car wrote:QuoteRealityCheck wrote:
The king of closed proprietary systems says he wants choice. You gotta be kidding. Mac OS only available on his machines, iPod users can only download music from his iTunes store. Jobs hates competition so he can get free jets and exorbitant stock options. Sorry Steve but everyone doesn't have to buy music from your music store.
I think you clicked the wrong thread or something. This one is about Motorolla and cell-phone service providers.
Steve Jobs has nothing to do with either of those businesses. Did you know that?
Maybe iTunes isn't the best solution for these greedy carriers. Maybe they should just set up some kind of voicemail system where you actually call in, say the name of the song, and listen to the whole song on your phone using your minutes. When you call in you could hear lengthy recorded instructions, plus they could also digitally alter it so that it plays longer, all using more airtime. They could also have their system drop the call so you have to call back to hear the chorus. Greedy Bastards!
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