Reuters: Cingular considering iTunes phone

[AppleInsider]

Cingular Wireless, the No. 1 U.S. mobile service, is considering selling a Motorola's upcoming iTunes phone, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

"Motorola and Apple have been talking to Cingular about it using the iTunes phone," according to one of the publication's sources, who asked not to be named.

Meanwhile, RBC Capital analyst Mark Sue said in a recent research note that Apple and Cingular were working out final details on revenue sharing pertinent to the arrangement.

Representatives from both Apple and Cingular declined to comment on the report, but a Motorola spokeswoman said the company is on schedule to ship an iTunes phone in the third quarter.

Apple and Motorola have been working to bringing Apple's popular iTunes service to mobile phones but Motorola has delayed unveiling its iTunes device so far amid speculation about a lack of interest from operators.

According to a report in French newspaper Le Figaro, Apple and Motorola may announce the device, dubbed iPhone, as early as next Tuesday.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[Apparatus]

I'm sure this will make some people happy, but for people like me this is of little to no interest.

I'll repeat the cliché, because it rings true here:

Who wants their phone to play music? Why have one device that does a lot of things poorly instead of different devices that do what they do very well? What about battery life? Blech.

[akhomerun]

Originally posted by Apparatus
I'm sure this will make some people happy, but for people like me this is of little to no interest.

I'll repeat the cliché, because it rings true here:

Who wants their phone to play music? Why have one device that does a lot of things poorly instead of different devices that do what they do very well? What about battery life? Blech.

maybe this iTunes phone will be a really great solution and a really revolutionary way to listen to music just like the iPod was a revolutionary way to listen to music on an HDD device?

imagine combining an iPod shuffle with a phone. Why not use the same device for both things? (hopefully battery life will be good enough because most people need their phone on standby for a long time) I mean a music player and phone are two things that people like to have all the tiem.

[SethMonster]

Uh, I do.

Turns out that cell phones do some pretty cool stuff these days (Bluetooth, web, email, video, camera, games), and I'm looking forward to iTunes on my phone.

[fahlman]

Originally posted by SethMonster
Uh, I do.

Turns out that cell phones do some pretty cool stuff these days (Bluetooth, web, email, video, camera, games), and I'm looking forward to iTunes on my phone.

The limited size of the screen, poor text entry, and tiny amount of memory keeps a phone from doing any of these functions as well as a dedicated instrument.

[Apparatus]

Originally posted by fahlman
The limited size of the screen, poor text entry, and tiny amount of memory keeps a phone from doing any of these functions as well as a dedicated instrument.

Exactly.

Not to mention battery life.

[fahlman]

Originally posted by Apparatus
Exactly.

Not to mention battery life.

I forgot to mention battery life!

[Trans9B]

1. Isn't Verizon the number 1 US mobile service? At least, in amount of customers and coverage area, right? Otherwise the statement that Cingulair is #1 seems pretty subjective to me...

2. Not sure if there will be any eventual miniSD or transflash implementation to the iTunes phone, but if so, there's the solution to the "memory" problem all you guys are trying to pass off on it. And who says you'll be storing the music on your phone anyway? I thought it might be a good idea to be able to browse the iTMS from the phone, listen to samples and purchase the music - but have it emailed you....

[SethMonster]

Wow, good call! I totally forgot that my iPod’s battery is particularly robust...not to mention the awesome text entry features! (Oh, and let’s not forget the size of the screen!) lol!

Really, you need to expand your horizons:

Noka.com

Motorola.com

(Things have changed a bit in the past few years.)

[NOFEER]

they should also have stereo BT 2.0+ and a slot for a gig mem chip is a snap, many phones have them. sams sells a gig chip for $72 maybe put in a mini click wheel smaller than the shuffle. or just duct tape a shuffle to your phone....hey that would work ,lol

hey they (apple) need a better car --ipod interface, i don't see it being a bt itunes cell phone for all of us who have ipods. we need a simple way of getting that ipod to our car stereo. that has the larger market. let's see how many ipod owners also have a car....hmmmmm more than need a new phone this quarter.

also with all that switching and pushing people to 2 year contracts who can afford to dump their present phone and get the itunes phone???? not me--my moto v551 works just fine.and you know in 3 months after they become available more features will be added and the bugs worked out. then at 6-8 months after getting one the price will drop by half e.g. razor.

[w_parietti22]

What about Verison or T-Mobile. (T-Mobile isnt as likely as Verison) Cingular is good, but I already have T-Mobile so it would be esy to just switch my number right over. Also, Is they Phone compatible with Address Book and iCal?

-Wes

PS- Can people stop calling it the iPhone? It is NOT made by Apple, its just a Moto phone with iTunes Software.

PS2- Wheres the Moto Razr iTunes phone???

[fahlman]

Show me a cell phone that will record my five year old daughter's baseball game. The game will last about an hour. I'd also like to zoom in, 10X optical should do it.

[fahlman]

Show me a cell phone that'll take 5- or 6-megapixel photographs. I'd like to output high resolution 8" x 10" photographs of my two year olds birthday party.

[Kolchak]

Verizon is the "best" network in terms of consumer satisfaction, but Cingular became the largest cell service provider when it merged with AT&T Wireless.

Thank goodness for the translation services like Google or Babelfish. At least I was able to get the gist of the French article. It looks like that phone is a Shuffle combo rather than a true iPod with a click wheel. Maybe I'll wait for the hard disk-based version due in about a year, which will hopefully have a click wheel.

Why would anybody want to stick with T-Mobile? Other than in metropolitan areas, their network is considered far inferior to other carriers'. Unless you're locked into a long-term plan, there's no reason you can't change carriers and keep your number thanks to number portability. Good thing I never renewed my plan when it expired three years ago. I can leave Verizon anytime without a penalty.

[fahlman]

I have a Motorola V400. iTap iSucks! The photos are nice to look at on the phone at least, kinda.

[admactanium]

Originally posted by fahlman
Show me a cell phone that'll take 5- or 6-megapixel photographs. I'd like to output high resolution 8" x 10" photographs of my two year olds birthday party.

actually i think samsung just released a 5 mp cell phone. the problem, of course, is that you have 5 mp of image through a crappy platic lens. but hey, it's got a lot of milky information.

[CosmoNut]

I understand the concern about having one device that does multiple things okay vs. many that do each thing well, but have you carried a PDA, cell phone, iPod, and digital camera on your person all at once? Do you know how heavy all that is and how geeky you look with all that strapped to your belt? I do.

I want a device that makes phone calls, takes decent digital pictures (2MP or so), stores a healthy bunch of songs, and keeps all my calendar and contact info. If an iTunes phone can do all that, I'd be very interested.

[fieldy]

Originally posted by CosmoNut
I understand the concern about having one device that does multiple things okay vs. many that do each thing well, but have you carried a PDA, cell phone, iPod, and digital camera on your person all at once? Do you know how heavy all that is and how geeky you look with all that strapped to your belt? I do.

I want a device that makes phone calls, takes decent digital pictures (2MP or so), stores a healthy bunch of songs, and keeps all my calendar and contact info. If an iTunes phone can do all that, I'd be very interested.

Here you go

I got one of those last week. The pictures it takes are great and with a bigger memory card you can have as much storage as a iPod Shuffle for playing back your music (it can take up to 2GB Memory Stick Duo).

Can't knock it really. It means I've always got a camera with me if I want to take a quick snap and also means I can listen to a selection of my favourite tunes or FM radio. Surprisingly the battery life is very good - only need to charge it every 4 or 5 days.

[ipodandimac]

Originally posted by fieldy
Here you go

I got one of those last week. The pictures it takes are great and with a bigger memory card you can have as much storage as a iPod Shuffle for playing back your music (it can take up to 2GB Memory Stick Duo).

Can't knock it really. It means I've always got a camera with me if I want to take a quick snap and also means I can listen to a selection of my favourite tunes or FM radio. Surprisingly the battery life is very good - only need to charge it every 4 or 5 days.

sounds great, but what file formats does it support? gotta be acc and mp3 or no deal.

[fieldy]

Originally posted by ipodandimac
sounds great, but what file formats does it support? gotta be acc and mp3 or no deal.

Yep, unprotected AAC and MP3.

[CosmoNut]

The SE interface for calendars is clunky and hard to use, as far as I'm concerned. That's why I don't use the calendar on my SE T610...

...And that's why I'm looking at the Treo 650: because it uses the same Palm interface that works very well for me. Hurry up, T-Mobile!!!

[ipodandimac]

Originally posted by CosmoNut
The SE interface for calendars is clunky and hard to use, as far as I'm concerned. That's why I don't use the calendar on my SE T610...

...And that's why I'm looking at the Treo 650: because it uses the same Palm interface that works very well for me. Hurry up, T-Mobile!!!

the clunkiness and awkward looks of the treo don't bother you?

[CosmoNut]

Originally posted by ipodandimac
the clunkiness and awkward looks of the treo don't bother you?

Actually, no. I don't mind having a device that's not the smallest, sexiest on the market. It just has to be functional and get the job done. To me, the Treo is small enough, attractive enough, and functional enough for what I want/need.

[Gon]

Topic of this thread, translated: if people on Cingular's market area bought their cellular service and cellular phone separate, they would already have these phones.

Maybe I overstate, but basically that is true.

It is clearly false that a dedicated device is always better.

If you use a portable music player, that and cellphone definitely belong together. With a good design, you'll have music auto-pause and continue when you call or answer. You can record any amount of conversation you want. You can sync both at the same time, charge both at the same time, have just one kind of spare battery, have just one small item in your jacket pocket. And it can cost less than two devices because many components are shared.

I used to be against cameras in phones because they don't have so much to do with the core functionality of phones, but they are getting reasonably good and soon cheap as well. The charging, syncing, carry and price advantages you have in the phone/musicplayer combo are still present with camera.

A cellphone camera you have in your jacket pocket is infinitely better than a camera you are not even carrying because it's too bulky... or even for a particular shot which you would have missed because it takes so much more time to dig out a "real" camera and wait it to start up.