July 3, 2005
Digital music sets the beat of next mobile phone bonanza
"All operators we meet say that the most important service for this year is actually mobile music," Svante Holm, at Ericsson, told AFP. "Mobile phones have more memory space and their performance is rapidly improving. Now you can fill up your phone with hundreds and hundreds of songs."
Even if the sound quality of phones remains inferior to the better portable music devices, phone makers hope that they will soon replace portable music devices like discmans and iPods, as most people are not carrying their music device all the time but they are carrying their phone all the time.
Mobile phone companies are also joining forces with Internet music providers and mobile operators to offer a larger range of music choices.
Last month, Ericsson joined forces with Napster to create a music download platform expected to be available to operators around the world over the next year. A new mobile phone by Apple and Motorola, expected to appear within the next couple of weeks, has been equipped with software-enabling downloads from Apple's iTunes Music Stores. In April, Nokia announced its "optimal music device", the N91, which can store 3,000 songs, and is expected to announce its own Microsoft-enabled music service using the online music catalogue Loudeye.
Music videos are also increasingly accompanying the tunes. Hutchison 3G offers access to 30 million music video clips and a direct link to MTV in the nine countries in which it operates.
Sony Ericsson has also seen its music-enabled K750i fly off the shelves and is about to launch a new phone under its "Walkman" brand.
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