Sprint challenges iPhone with 99 cent over-the-air music downloads
Apple Inc. may find it hard to ignore a new dual-strategy mobile phone initiative from Sprint Nextel that promises over-the-air music downloads to a new Samsung phone for 99 cents a piece.
The nation's third largest wireless carrier said Monday it plans to begin offering customers a new phone from Samsung with a revolutionary form factor that optimizes music capabilities with the look of a phone on one side and an MP3 player on the other.
Dubbed "UpStage," the device will be available from Sprint stores beginning in early April for $149 with a two-year service agreement. It will offer easy access to Sprint's exclusive multimedia content, including Sprint Music Store with quick over-the-air music downloads.
The phone will also feature a 1.3MP camera and camcorder, MicroSD card slot for up to 2GB of external memory, an easy-to-access keyguard switch to prevent accidental dialing, and Wireless Backup to quickly restore contact information if your phone is lost or stolen.
Each UpStage from Samsung will come standard with a 64MB MicroSD memory card and an extended battery wallet that increases talk time up to 6.3 hours or 16 hours of music listening, Sprint said. Dual battery gauges will show remaining battery life in the extended battery wallet and the internal battery.
At the same time that Sprint rolls out UpStage, it will also begin offering customers powerful new pricing options for downloadable music tracks. The Reston, Va.-based firm said in early April the Sprint Music Store will offer songs at $ 0.99, which it claims is the lowest rate available for over-the-air song downloads purchased in the United States.
"This price applies to every song in the Sprint Music Store's library of more than 1.5 million songs," Sprint said in a press release.
The new per-song rate will be available to Sprint customers with any Sprint Power Vision data plan, and Sprint says it plans to offer two new plans with a particular emphasis on music.
A new Power Vision Access Pack will be available for $15 and include 10 commercial-free radio channels from Sprint Radio, exclusive video programming, and 99 cent song downloads. For $5 more per month, a Vision Music Pack will add another 40 channels of commercial-free radio channels and a a channel from Sprint TV that features music videos.
Samsung's UpStage mobile music phone for Sprint Nextel network.
Both data plans will be available to Sprint customers in early April and include unlimited data usage, Sprint said. The plans will also include unlimited use of several other non-music applications such as web browsing, Picture Mail and mobile email.
While Samsung's UpStage handset pales in comparison Apple's iPhone on a functionality basis, Sprint's move to offer over-the-air music downloads to the device for 99 cents may present a significant challenge to the iPod maker.
Apple, whose iPhone is not expected until June, has not said if users will be able to download music tracks direcly to the device over ATT's wireless network.
The nation's third largest wireless carrier said Monday it plans to begin offering customers a new phone from Samsung with a revolutionary form factor that optimizes music capabilities with the look of a phone on one side and an MP3 player on the other.
Dubbed "UpStage," the device will be available from Sprint stores beginning in early April for $149 with a two-year service agreement. It will offer easy access to Sprint's exclusive multimedia content, including Sprint Music Store with quick over-the-air music downloads.
The phone will also feature a 1.3MP camera and camcorder, MicroSD card slot for up to 2GB of external memory, an easy-to-access keyguard switch to prevent accidental dialing, and Wireless Backup to quickly restore contact information if your phone is lost or stolen.
Each UpStage from Samsung will come standard with a 64MB MicroSD memory card and an extended battery wallet that increases talk time up to 6.3 hours or 16 hours of music listening, Sprint said. Dual battery gauges will show remaining battery life in the extended battery wallet and the internal battery.
At the same time that Sprint rolls out UpStage, it will also begin offering customers powerful new pricing options for downloadable music tracks. The Reston, Va.-based firm said in early April the Sprint Music Store will offer songs at $ 0.99, which it claims is the lowest rate available for over-the-air song downloads purchased in the United States.
"This price applies to every song in the Sprint Music Store's library of more than 1.5 million songs," Sprint said in a press release.
The new per-song rate will be available to Sprint customers with any Sprint Power Vision data plan, and Sprint says it plans to offer two new plans with a particular emphasis on music.
A new Power Vision Access Pack will be available for $15 and include 10 commercial-free radio channels from Sprint Radio, exclusive video programming, and 99 cent song downloads. For $5 more per month, a Vision Music Pack will add another 40 channels of commercial-free radio channels and a a channel from Sprint TV that features music videos.
Samsung's UpStage mobile music phone for Sprint Nextel network.
Both data plans will be available to Sprint customers in early April and include unlimited data usage, Sprint said. The plans will also include unlimited use of several other non-music applications such as web browsing, Picture Mail and mobile email.
While Samsung's UpStage handset pales in comparison Apple's iPhone on a functionality basis, Sprint's move to offer over-the-air music downloads to the device for 99 cents may present a significant challenge to the iPod maker.
Apple, whose iPhone is not expected until June, has not said if users will be able to download music tracks direcly to the device over ATT's wireless network.
Comments
How much is data costs do you have to pay for that $0.99 song?
they have $15 and $20 dolloar a month data-plans that, among some other things, allow free bandwidth for the $0.99 downloads.
As much as people complain about being "locked" into a music player by the drm on some music you may purche, how much more does it suck to be "locked" in to your phone provider by purchasing music?
Several important questions:
Can i put non-drm'd mp3's on it?
What sucky software do I need to install/use to manage the music on it (or do i have to manage it on the phone itself)? Is said software available for Mac.
Comes with a 64MB card and maxes out at 2GB? can i swap between spare cards on the fly to (cumbersomely) have more music available to me? (and how does one manage what is on what card, see the second question)
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess this product will largely bomb.
Ok so you can download over the air, but how do you manage your music and all your content, can you easily move things between your phone and computer or your stereo system or play the music over your car stereo and do it all work without you having to think about.
It looks like another failed product... and Sprint think that if people have their music on the phone they would be less likely to change service providers.
-Clive
Unfortunately the phone looks like ass.
-Clive
I think they are headed in the right direction. So all Apple need to do is offer iTunes to phone purchase to counter them.
2 - I'm guessing (but probably right in assuming) that Apple will eventually (even if it takes a while) add the capability of downloading songs from the iPhone and having the tracks sync back to your iTunes library.
3 - Notice how they used silhouette dancers as the backdrop.
I want to browse a music store on a tiny screen with no pointing device for navigation.
I want to search for music with a little numpad instead of a keyboard. And I want that numpad NOT to be on the same side of the phone as the main screen.
I want to preview and download songs at slow speeds while draining my battery and dealing with reception issues.
I want just 64 MB to store the songs in--which means I also want low quality encoding.
I want to have to WORK to integrate the music back into my main library once I get home--if that's even possible.
I want to shop for music while standing in line or waiting for the red light to change, listening to the wind and traffic and crowds--not from the comfort of my own home with my stereo speakers.
Most of all, I do NOT want iPod ease-of-use or multitouch control and flexibility. I want a ton of little buttons.
Apple could learn a lot from this: it's JUST what consumers have been clamoring for
They're right, Apple CANNOT ignore this threat! Can they make the iPhone catch up to this marvel?
Where do I sign up?
http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/25/s...ge-for-sprint/
and it's called the UpStage.
el-oh-els.
did they even look at this when they designed it? (the keys are on the BACK??)
hmmm... something smells fishy.
http://www.phonenews.com/content/view/1949/1/
wtf is a battery wallet?
Steve Jobs said the problem with phones is that their interfaces don't conform to each specific application / task needed by the user. Hence, the birth of iPhone. Now, Sprint/Nextel's solution is to have a 2-sided phone. One side for music, the other for conversations. Just imagine, let's add more functionality and have 3, 4, 5, and on sided phones. Then they'll have to resort to a rubics cube format to accommodate for all it's functionality.
Ok after seeing that phone, it's pretty sweet. A display on both sides it unique. I have no plans of buying one, but I would go to a Sprint store to look at it.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/25/s...ge-for-sprint/
Maybe the next generation will add a small, lengthwise display on the sides for viewing RSS feeds.
The possibilities are limitless. Or, 6-sided limits.
Jim
Maybe the next generation will add a small, lengthwise display on the sides for viewing RSS feeds.
The possibilities are limitless. Or, 6-sided limits.
Jim