Both Apple and Nokia produce well designed and functional products aimed at the more design- and quality conscious consumer. Their co-operation in such a venture would've been more natural, imho. Motorola is hardly a company that puts impressive amounts of effort into their products' design.
When I think of "good design," I don't think of Nokia keypads, that's for sure. In fact, I'd more likely place these keypads in the design hall of shame.
The issue with Motorola has always been build quality. I've had a couple of Motorola phones, and the only one that could take a beating was the original MicroTac...Heh. Some of their new phones look great though. The MPx200 is a sweet phone despite the whole Windows thing.
Apple doesn't need the headaches of having a vendor produce phones for them under their name. Phones, in the U.S. come with Service Provider contracts - each provider has their individual line of phones to offer. An Apple branded cell phone is not in the offing - that's the reason for the deal with Motorola. Moto manufactures and provides phones for dozens of phone companies. Look for other manufacturers to possibly sign on with Apple. The deal will help increase sales via iTMS and even get additional sales for the iPod. I seriously doubt the phones will have the capacity of even 1000 songs so iPods in their various incarnations will continue to be attractive. None of this happens until the middle of next year and a lot will need to transpire before the roll out. This is not in reaction to the REAL announcement. It's obviously been in the discussion stages for quite a while. It really is a pre-emptive strike against M$ and their plans in the same area I believe.
Licensing fairplay/AAC is distinctly different from offering iTunes musicplayer for other devices. iTunes music player is Apple's software. This is very different from what is going on with Real. It makes sense for Apple to offer their iTunes musicplayer royalty free instead of allowing competing *music stores* to use their technologies. Apple has the head start so to enable as many devices as possible take advantage of it is more in their interest.
Motorola Inc. said Monday that it will join with Apple Computer Inc. to create a new portable music device--the first partnership to allow cell phone users to tap into the Web's most popular digital music service.
Starting next year, certain new Motorola cell phones will be able to download music from Apple's iTunes Music Store or play songs transferred directly from a computer with Apple's music software.
For Apple, it's the first indication that the Cupertino, Calif., company is developing new products outside of the popular iPod to play digital music on the go. Apple sold 860,000 iPods in its latest quarter, and the iTunes music store accounts for about 70 percent of all legally downloaded songs, Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff told the Tribune last week.
"Right now it's iTunes and the seven dwarfs," he said.
Schaumburg-based Motorola unveiled the partnership at an event Monday evening ahead of Chief Executive Ed Zander's inaugural presentation to analysts Tuesday. Apple CEO Steve Jobs joined the event via video conference.
"It's about ubiquity," Zander said of the partnership. "[Jobs'] goal is to get iTunes music everywhere."
Soon after Zander was named Motorola's CEO in December, Jobs gave the former Sun Microsystems Inc. president a call to see if there was something they could do together. The two tech executives have been friends for many years.
"The mobile phone market--with 1.5 billion subscribers expected worldwide by the end of 2004--is a phenomenal opportunity to get iTunes in the hands of even more music lovers," Jobs said in a press release. "We think Motorola is the ideal partner to kick this off."
The new cell phones, still under development, will hold dozens of songs initially but will expand to hundreds over time, according to Motorola and Apple officials.
"We don't think it's a replacement for an iPod that holds thousands of songs," said Eddy Cue, vice president of applications for Apple.
The deal with Motorola is not exclusive, an Apple official said. But Motorola is the first company to offer the new service.
"Realistically, it means Motorola is going to have an advantage in the marketplace because they'll be first with it," said Charles Golvin, principal analyst at Forrester.
In terms of music and cell phones "we think it's a natural fit," added Brian Modoff, an analyst with Deutsche Bank Securities. "It helps [Motorola] from a credibility standpoint" by having a connection with iTunes and Apple.
But the proof that Zander is really helping Motorola will come if he can get the phones out on time--not the fancy features, Modoff said. He was referring to Motorola's troubles earlier this year with late deliveries of new models.
Also Monday, Motorola introduced seven new cell phones and focused on the idea of "seamless mobility," or interconnected devices that bring voice and data services to people at work, home or on the road.
Motorola's new phones will offer a range of features to allow for mobile computing and entertainment.
The Motorola A780, which includes a color touch screen, can function as a personal digital assistant and camera as well as a video and MP3 music player. A pair of other models, the V975 and C975, can conduct two-way videoconferences.
Phones with the iTunes feature are expected to reach the market in the first half of next year, Motorola said.
In another announcement, Motorola is introducing mobile devices to enable road warriors to access corporate intranets, electronic calendars and company directories. Also, the new phones can route all office calls through one phone number and voice mailbox.
Once maligned for missing the mass market, Motorola has more recently enjoyed a surge in sales and profits with its newer cell phones.
The company has exceeded analysts' profitability expectations for two consecutive quarters. On a pretax basis, excluding a large charge related to the recent initial public offering of its semiconductor unit, Motorola posted second-quarter earnings of $800 million, up considerably from year-ago results of $112 million.
Revenue for the quarter jumped 41 percent, to $8.7 billion.
Analysts expect that Zander will lay out a comprehensive plan Tuesday for how he expects to shape and develop the company.
i really dont see that. Apple doesnt seem to have even the temptation of doing this. they are making alliances and creating standards for everyone. it doesn't look like they want to make the actual phones. They'd much prefer everyone pay them for licensing. in other words, it seems they are trying to out microsoft microsoft. jobs isn't dumb, don't make the same mistakes twice.
How many songs can you transfer to a cell phone? Only AAC or MP3s too?
128M worth. That should give roughly 40 songs per 128MB.
I thought the VOIP functions where nice too. I'm so dissatisfied with the performance of cell phones in the apt. This pretty much has ruled out having only a cell phone for me and my close friends have mentioned the same frustrations. We're all looking at going to Vonage for VOIP to augment the Cell.
When I think of "good design," I don't think of Nokia keypads, that's for sure. In fact, I'd more likely place these keypads in the design hall of shame.
I like those designs. The only Nokia design I dislike is the N-Gage which to me is a very bad idea in an even worse design.
Eugene is talking about the epidemic of Notion's Syndrome that struck the engineers responsible for laying out the keypads.
If there's one thing you don't want to mess with, it's the primary interface to the device, which has been standard for decades. Only one of those — the two-sided "thumb" keypad — appears to have had any gesture toward usability applied to the design, if you assume the device will be held in two hands. The rest are just gimmicky and confusing.
Motorola is exactly the right partner for this. Politically, as the article points out, Jobs is on good terms with Zander, and Motorola is actively pursuing licensing deals; Nokia prefers to do its own thing (according to a friend who works in the industry, they can be maddeningly stubborn in standards committees, frequently standing opposed to literally every other player). As far as market penetration goes, Motorola is already a huge presence, and they just found their mojo, gaining market share back at an impressive rate (10%ish per quarter); and they're taking most of that share from Nokia.
Since it's not an exclusive deal, it doesn't really matter that much anyway. If the Motorola deal pans out, and the service providers don't freak out and lock the iTunes-enabled phones out until they get a share of the revenue stream, as some analysts and industry watchers are predicting, then we'll see many more such deals.
The issue with Motorola has always been build quality. I've had a couple of Motorola phones, and the only one that could take a beating was the original MicroTac...Heh.
I disagree with that. I've only ever had Moto phones, and have never had one that could not take a "beating"- including the V8160 I still am using. It's taken a few tumbles, one of which was out of my pocket onto concrete when I was out running. I stuck the battery back in put the battery door back on, (held my breath) an powered it back up.
For me, Moto's problem is that isn't making compelling enough phones. They keep putting out ones that have some great features, but not all. If they could take the 1.2mp camera from the V710, the bluetooth from the V600 (uncrippled by Verizon), the A840's ability to be a CDMA phone in the states and a GSM phone abroad or quad-band GSM, the thin-ness of the RAZR V3 with the width and length of the V810, they could sell the crap out of them.
But Moto hasn't even gotten the V710, V810, V840 to market yet, despite the fact that at least two of them were supposed to be out last December....
Comments
Originally posted by heifetz
Both Apple and Nokia produce well designed and functional products aimed at the more design- and quality conscious consumer. Their co-operation in such a venture would've been more natural, imho. Motorola is hardly a company that puts impressive amounts of effort into their products' design.
When I think of "good design," I don't think of Nokia keypads, that's for sure. In fact, I'd more likely place these keypads in the design hall of shame.
The issue with Motorola has always been build quality. I've had a couple of Motorola phones, and the only one that could take a beating was the original MicroTac...Heh. Some of their new phones look great though. The MPx200 is a sweet phone despite the whole Windows thing.
Motorola, Apple in harmony on phone
Planned handset to tap into iTunes
By Rob Kaiser
Tribune staff reporter
Published July 27, 2004
Motorola Inc. said Monday that it will join with Apple Computer Inc. to create a new portable music device--the first partnership to allow cell phone users to tap into the Web's most popular digital music service.
Starting next year, certain new Motorola cell phones will be able to download music from Apple's iTunes Music Store or play songs transferred directly from a computer with Apple's music software.
For Apple, it's the first indication that the Cupertino, Calif., company is developing new products outside of the popular iPod to play digital music on the go. Apple sold 860,000 iPods in its latest quarter, and the iTunes music store accounts for about 70 percent of all legally downloaded songs, Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff told the Tribune last week.
"Right now it's iTunes and the seven dwarfs," he said.
Schaumburg-based Motorola unveiled the partnership at an event Monday evening ahead of Chief Executive Ed Zander's inaugural presentation to analysts Tuesday. Apple CEO Steve Jobs joined the event via video conference.
"It's about ubiquity," Zander said of the partnership. "[Jobs'] goal is to get iTunes music everywhere."
Soon after Zander was named Motorola's CEO in December, Jobs gave the former Sun Microsystems Inc. president a call to see if there was something they could do together. The two tech executives have been friends for many years.
"The mobile phone market--with 1.5 billion subscribers expected worldwide by the end of 2004--is a phenomenal opportunity to get iTunes in the hands of even more music lovers," Jobs said in a press release. "We think Motorola is the ideal partner to kick this off."
The new cell phones, still under development, will hold dozens of songs initially but will expand to hundreds over time, according to Motorola and Apple officials.
"We don't think it's a replacement for an iPod that holds thousands of songs," said Eddy Cue, vice president of applications for Apple.
The deal with Motorola is not exclusive, an Apple official said. But Motorola is the first company to offer the new service.
"Realistically, it means Motorola is going to have an advantage in the marketplace because they'll be first with it," said Charles Golvin, principal analyst at Forrester.
In terms of music and cell phones "we think it's a natural fit," added Brian Modoff, an analyst with Deutsche Bank Securities. "It helps [Motorola] from a credibility standpoint" by having a connection with iTunes and Apple.
But the proof that Zander is really helping Motorola will come if he can get the phones out on time--not the fancy features, Modoff said. He was referring to Motorola's troubles earlier this year with late deliveries of new models.
Also Monday, Motorola introduced seven new cell phones and focused on the idea of "seamless mobility," or interconnected devices that bring voice and data services to people at work, home or on the road.
Motorola's new phones will offer a range of features to allow for mobile computing and entertainment.
The Motorola A780, which includes a color touch screen, can function as a personal digital assistant and camera as well as a video and MP3 music player. A pair of other models, the V975 and C975, can conduct two-way videoconferences.
Phones with the iTunes feature are expected to reach the market in the first half of next year, Motorola said.
In another announcement, Motorola is introducing mobile devices to enable road warriors to access corporate intranets, electronic calendars and company directories. Also, the new phones can route all office calls through one phone number and voice mailbox.
Once maligned for missing the mass market, Motorola has more recently enjoyed a surge in sales and profits with its newer cell phones.
The company has exceeded analysts' profitability expectations for two consecutive quarters. On a pretax basis, excluding a large charge related to the recent initial public offering of its semiconductor unit, Motorola posted second-quarter earnings of $800 million, up considerably from year-ago results of $112 million.
Revenue for the quarter jumped 41 percent, to $8.7 billion.
Analysts expect that Zander will lay out a comprehensive plan Tuesday for how he expects to shape and develop the company.
Originally posted by applenut
i really dont see that. Apple doesnt seem to have even the temptation of doing this. they are making alliances and creating standards for everyone. it doesn't look like they want to make the actual phones. They'd much prefer everyone pay them for licensing. in other words, it seems they are trying to out microsoft microsoft. jobs isn't dumb, don't make the same mistakes twice.
I think this is correct.
Originally posted by King Chung Huang
Check out the video at http://www.videonewswire.com/motorola/motomedia/
Wow! They really know how to do an intro.
Originally posted by King Chung Huang
Check out the video at http://www.videonewswire.com/motorola/motomedia/
Does anyone (other than me) find it just mildly ironic that the video ia available only as Windows Media and Real Media?
Originally posted by monkeyastronaut
How many songs can you transfer to a cell phone? Only AAC or MP3s too?
128M worth. That should give roughly 40 songs per 128MB.
I thought the VOIP functions where nice too. I'm so dissatisfied with the performance of cell phones in the apt. This pretty much has ruled out having only a cell phone for me and my close friends have mentioned the same frustrations. We're all looking at going to Vonage for VOIP to augment the Cell.
Originally posted by Eugene
When I think of "good design," I don't think of Nokia keypads, that's for sure. In fact, I'd more likely place these keypads in the design hall of shame.
I like those designs. The only Nokia design I dislike is the N-Gage which to me is a very bad idea in an even worse design.
Originally posted by Eugene
I actually sort of like this one.
Originally posted by Chris Cuilla
I actually sort of like this one.
The whole phone's design or the keypad?
Originally posted by Chris Cuilla
I actually sort of like this one.
Eugene is talking about the epidemic of Notion's Syndrome that struck the engineers responsible for laying out the keypads.
If there's one thing you don't want to mess with, it's the primary interface to the device, which has been standard for decades. Only one of those — the two-sided "thumb" keypad — appears to have had any gesture toward usability applied to the design, if you assume the device will be held in two hands. The rest are just gimmicky and confusing.
Motorola is exactly the right partner for this. Politically, as the article points out, Jobs is on good terms with Zander, and Motorola is actively pursuing licensing deals; Nokia prefers to do its own thing (according to a friend who works in the industry, they can be maddeningly stubborn in standards committees, frequently standing opposed to literally every other player). As far as market penetration goes, Motorola is already a huge presence, and they just found their mojo, gaining market share back at an impressive rate (10%ish per quarter); and they're taking most of that share from Nokia.
Since it's not an exclusive deal, it doesn't really matter that much anyway. If the Motorola deal pans out, and the service providers don't freak out and lock the iTunes-enabled phones out until they get a share of the revenue stream, as some analysts and industry watchers are predicting, then we'll see many more such deals.
Originally posted by Eugene
The issue with Motorola has always been build quality. I've had a couple of Motorola phones, and the only one that could take a beating was the original MicroTac...Heh.
I disagree with that. I've only ever had Moto phones, and have never had one that could not take a "beating"- including the V8160 I still am using. It's taken a few tumbles, one of which was out of my pocket onto concrete when I was out running. I stuck the battery back in put the battery door back on, (held my breath) an powered it back up.
For me, Moto's problem is that isn't making compelling enough phones. They keep putting out ones that have some great features, but not all. If they could take the 1.2mp camera from the V710, the bluetooth from the V600 (uncrippled by Verizon), the A840's ability to be a CDMA phone in the states and a GSM phone abroad or quad-band GSM, the thin-ness of the RAZR V3 with the width and length of the V810, they could sell the crap out of them.
But Moto hasn't even gotten the V710, V810, V840 to market yet, despite the fact that at least two of them were supposed to be out last December....