May 22, 2006
Sony to Develop Walkman Brand Cell Phone
Sony will offer in Japan a Walkman cell phone next month that will enable users to download music onto their handsets in a partnership with No. 2 mobile carrier KDDI, reports the Associated Press and Reuters.
... "Such a product is a first for the Japanese market, where more than 90 percent of the music downloads are carried out directly into cell phones, rather than personal computers.
The handsets from Sony Ericsson, Sony's mobile phone joint venture with Sweden's LM Ericsson, will come with 1 gigabyte of built-in memory that's enough to store 630 songs, and will play for 30 hours straight, company officials said.
... Unlike those sold elsewhere, the Walkman phones in Japan will connect to a digital music store operated by KDDI Corp. called Listen Mobile Service, or Lismo, for downloading music and will also download tunes directly into the cell phone in a separate KDDI service called "chaku-uta" that's already popular in Japan."
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