Motorola blames Apple for delay in unveiling iTunes-enabled phone

The much-hyped Motorola iTunes phone was conspicuously absent from CeBIT last week. It was assumed (and you know what they say about that!) that the delay was due to a cat fight between a couple of mobile phone carriers. Motorola dispelled that myth today by making it clear that Steve Jobs was to blame.

“The first thing you’re seeing here is a merger of two different industries with different ideas of launching products,” Ron Garriques, president of Motorola’s mobile phone division said at a news conference at the CTIA U.S. wireless show in New Orleans. He added “Steve’s perspective is that you launch a product on Sunday and sell it on Monday.”

That’s not always the case, as anyone waiting for Tiger can tell you. Methinks there is still more to this story.

Motorola says they are still on schedule to deliver two iTunes phones this year, with one coming on the market in the first half of the year and another in the second half. All that’s needed now is for the players to agree on a date - and for the rest of us to actually want to use our cell phones as jukeboxes.  I love my RAZR, i love my iPod(s). Never the twain shall meet.