iTunes on Motorola Phones

[nuckinfutz]

FYI:
You can make a decoder that is entirely independant of quicktime, and that is probably what they have done. I can't even guess why you think they have ported quicktime to the phone. They already have MPEG4 in there, that is probably as close to quicktime as you will ever get with it.

I don't get the big deal here, many new phones can play MP3.

You're not thinking about the box man. It's the DRM that's unique here not the fact that the phone plays music. Remember the DRM is embedded in the file but it is Quicktime that manages the policy. This is a lot bigger than many of you realize. QT with Fairplay DRM is ready to be licensed out and that's a huge step for Apple.

I don't rule out Apple making an attempt to make their own phone someday. If they do they will wait until they can provide a phone that would meet their standards for features/quality and a phone that covers a wide area. Phones seem to be in transition right now and it'll be a couple of years before things settle down IMO. Apple might be ripe for a nice product by then.

 

[mikeyrogers]

V600

If Apple and Motorola have such a strong partnership, then WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT TO ADD COMPATIBILITY TO MY BLUETOOTH V600?!?!

I just don't get it. They love each other, but Motorola's best (bluetooth) phone is having the hardest time on the Mac.

Also, if this issue gets resolved, I wonder if they will add this new "always with you" feature to existing phones (like the V600) or if you have to buy a brand new phone...

 

[mullmann]

In the next day or two, Nokia will probably announce that in the interest of consumer choice, it has reverse-engineered the Apple-Motorola code and all iTunes songs will play on Nokia phones, too.

 

[Jalexster]

In the next day or two, Nokia will probably announce that in the interest of consumer choice, it has reverse-engineered the Apple-Motorola code and all iTunes songs will play on Nokia phones, too.

Then they will team up with Real.
But we will fight! We will win! APPLE WILL WIN!

 

[cr2sh]

Wow, to think... I'll soon be able to buy a phone that plays iTunes and that has an antenna that breaks off easily....



Motorola phones bite my ass.

 

[hokka]

Then they will team up with Real.
But we will fight! We will win! APPLE WILL WIN!

Nokia are already using Real as their media player, today I just got a movie in the email from a friend's new 7260, it's definitely a Real file, opens with Real and with an extension of .3gp. And I have seen it on their other phones, e.g. older 3650

 

[mangophreek]

If Apple and Motorola have such a strong partnership, then WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT TO ADD COMPATIBILITY TO MY BLUETOOTH V600?!?!

I just don't get it. They love each other, but Motorola's best (bluetooth) phone is having the hardest time on the Mac.

Also, if this issue gets resolved, I wonder if they will add this new "always with you" feature to existing phones (like the V600) or if you have to buy a brand new phone...

That's my big question. When is the support for the V600 coming? I just spent $600 Canadian on one (with a 2 year warantee) and if Moto's next line of phone's has iSync support with Bluetooth but my V600 doesn't I'm going to be livid. Livid I say. But I did buy it knowing full well it will take some go-arounds to use it with my Powerbook 17" so I guess I can't complain. But I can complain about the shipping delays and not having my Powerbook after 3 weeks with 1-3 business days quoted. Boo, Apple, Boo.

V600 support would make my year.

 

[unsigned]

Maturity leads to diversity

I think this whole thing is going to play as such,

Apple teams up with MOTO to create iTune mobile for MOTO and other phones.

Is there any reason that Apple can't design a phone with Motorola? In the same way that Sony designs Ericsson phones? Apple may not have the infrastructure or the interest to create and distribute a whole new mobile platform. But they do have a history of working with Motorola to design products (Apple designed the G3 and G4, didn't they? Or at least, it was a collaboration).

Maybe one of the ways that Apple can mature as a company is through this kind of cross-brand manufacture. Right now, they're making iPods for HP to sell under their brand name - taking advantage of HP's huge distribution network and name.

Can't they make a phone with Motorola, designing the case and interface? And sell it as an AppleMotorola, or whatever?

I think Steve was quoted once as saying that the reason they never did a phone is because they had a hard time working with the national carriers. Motorola already has all of that in place.

Apple's biggest assets are, according to Steve at the iPod introduction, design and miniaturization. Why not share those skills with other brands?

 

[nagromme]

i was under the impression that Apple's previous plan for the music store was as a tool for encouraging iPod sales.

It is--and Motorola phones won't hurt iPod sales much at all. A phone can't replace an iPod's capacity (yet), and it can't replace Apple's patented wheel UI. A dedicated iPod is still the ideal music device. And now you can share music with an iPod and a phone--which could HELP iPod sales. Want a music player, jukebox, and/or online store? Why not choose iPod and iTunes, since they're already supported by your phone?

The whole "iTunes system" has expanded, and that's good for mindshare and for marketshare. It's also one more little thing keeping Microsoft WMA at bay.

And there's a good chance Apple will make license money off of every phone, too. That, and not the song sales, is where direct profit will come from here. (But the indirect, long-term benefits are greater.)

I see the day when one device CAN do all things well... PDA, ultraportable phone, camera, music, mobile gaming. But right now, a device can do one thing well and the others are just "nice extras." It doesn't make sense for Apple to make an all-in-one phone device now. Maybe never. But it also doesn't make sense for them to lock Apple technology OUT of those devices that ARE being made. They'll want an early start in the industry or else they're just giving it away to MS. So getting iTunes and QuickTime onto third-party phones makes perfect sense.

An analogy: iPod's calendar is very handy, but it probably doesn't kill PDA sales.

 

[stephenli]

OMG

OMG! Motorola battery life sucks
all of my colleague's motorola phone die within half year
why not NEC / NOKIA / Panasonic / Samsung.....

 

[TomSmithMacEd]

This is cool, but the first thing that came to my head was... They are partnering with Motorola again... Why? Let's hope it works out of the best.

 

[dontmatter]

This just goes to prove that Apple is willing to work with worthy partners when it comes to their music strategy. Obviously HP, BMW, Motorola and AOL fall into that category, while chumps like Real Networks do not...

AOL is better than real? AOL is the BOTTOM of the pile. It was just a good deal for apple, that's all.

 

[iMeowbot]

You can make a decoder that is entirely independant of quicktime, and that is probably what they have done. I can't even guess why you think they have ported quicktime to the phone. They already have MPEG4 in there, that is probably as close to quicktime as you will ever get with it.

Apple have ported/licensed QuickTime for all sorts of different embedded platforms, from cameras on up. The new Moto phones would be easy to support, since they will be running nothing out of the ordinary, a Linux kernel with the usual J2ME etc. available. They will need to use QuickTime because these phones will be supporting iTunes' DRM. (The embedded versions of QuickTime are much, much smaller than their desktop equivalents. It'll fit fine.)

 

[animefan_1]

That's my big question. When is the support for the V600 coming? I just spent $600 Canadian on one (with a 2 year warantee) and if Moto's next line of phone's has iSync support with Bluetooth but my V600 doesn't I'm going to be livid. Livid I say. But I did buy it knowing full well it will take some go-arounds to use it with my Powerbook 17" so I guess I can't complain. But I can complain about the shipping delays and not having my Powerbook after 3 weeks with 1-3 business days quoted. Boo, Apple, Boo.

V600 support would make my year.

According to this article from Thinksecret, http://www.thinksecret.com/news/isync15.html, iSync 1.5 will have more support for Moto phones. They don't mention the V600, but the do say 'newer phones from Motorola and Sony Ericsson', Maybe this update will 'make your year'.

 

[notmenotyou]

....Can't they make a phone with Motorola, designing the case and interface? And sell it as an AppleMotorola, or whatever?......

AppTorola.....

 

[beatle888]

that phone is coolest thing i have seen in my life i want one now!

no doubt. for the first time in my life i actually want a cell phone. and im no spring chicken. man they did a nice job on that one.

 

[FelixDerKater]

Now to get this into SonyEricsson phones...

 

[dethl]

Mr. Jobs, please repeat after me: CDMA

I personally want to see these phones on networks other than GSM. Apple, get these to the CDMA market!

 

[FelixDerKater]

Mr. Jobs, please repeat after me: CDMA

I personally want to see these phones on networks other than GSM. Apple, get these to the CDMA market!

Please repeat after me... GSM! Sprint and Verizon won't move on though, since they have spent so much money on their current PCS networks.

 

[iMeowbot]

Nokia are already using Real as their media player, today I just got a movie in the email from a friend's new 7260, it's definitely a Real file, opens with Real and with an extension of .3gp. And I have seen it on their other phones, e.g. older 3650

3GPP isn't a Real thing, it's an MPEG4 extension from an industry consotrium. QuickTime supports it too.

 

[beefcake]

My Motorola phone from 1 year ago is a piece of junk. Buttons randomly don't register, drops calls, battery life is sucked up by the huge color screen. Though I have nothing but good things to say about my G4, so I'll wait until this comes out to pass judgment on Motorola.

 

[Kingsnapped]

I still stand by my decision to buy a V600

... yesterday.

I can still get those songs on the phone, it just takes a little time. Hopefully we will get firmware updates, rather than just new phones with the features.

 

[zucruw]

novelty will wear off

maybe its just me, but having headphones and wires all over the place for a device your constantly using and puttin up to your ear seems like something i wouldn't do. a very small percentage of cell phone users use that hands free ear piece thing, and i would have to imagine not too many people would want regular headphones attached to their phone. an ipod is different because you don't always have to be taking it out of your pocket, and its primary function is to play music (plus you don't have to put an ipod up against your face). i just don't see how anyone really thinks this is cool. i mean, is the music going to be played through a speaker? if so, then where can you really listen to it? hardly anywhere.

 

[appleface]

i didn't think of this earlier. i was under the impression that Apple's previous plan for the music store was as a tool for encouraging iPod sales. now it seems like they're letting it stand more on its own. i was thinking previously that it would be great if apple made a PDA version of iTunes, but i thought they wouldn't as it would probably have a negative impact on iPod sales. now this just confuses me.

you can chalk moto's fone up on the "more marketshare" board if you're looking for answers.

also, the all-in-one handheld computer-phone-music-gaming-gps-internet-microwave (maybe not microwave) gadgets are just a matter of time, and this will be a quality step (i'm confident of that because of apple's commitment to good design) in that direction. i thought i'd throw my pennies at you.

 

[heisetax]

Motorola phones do work.

OMG! Motorola battery life sucks
all of my colleague's motorola phone die within half year
why not NEC / NOKIA / Panasonic / Samsung.....

But my 2 Motorola V60's are over 2 years old now. If what you say is always true, then how are mine working. And I can connect with my ISP with this phone as well.