Filed under: Hardware, Multimedia, iTunes
ROKR E2 dumping iTunes for an iRadio service?
MacRumors picked up on a New York Times report that the
forthcoming ROKR E2 will be dumping iTunes in favor of a new
subscription-based iRadio service, featuring over 400 channels of commercial-free radio. So basically: instead of a
phone that can freely play all of your music, you can pay a reported $7/month for what is basically XM/Sirius in your
phone. For those of you still waiting for an iTunes-based ROKR successor, the recently-announced RAZR v3i sounds like
it won't dissappoint. In my opinion though, following up the less-than-stellar ROKR with a new version that doesn't
even support playing my music is two steps in the wrong direction.But what do you guys think of this? Do you want a ROKR phone with a radio-on-steriods in it, or are you already yelling "I want my iTunes library!"
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ricky said 1:21PM on 1-03-2006
sooo.. Apple phone is coming!!
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The Prefossor said 1:25PM on 1-03-2006
You are so on the money. Here is a prodiction for 2006 - like the failure of the AOL Time/Warner merger so too will the failure be of these silly mobile carriers and their music download or subscription services. I am calling it now, and so too should TUAW, consumers WILL NOT pay to download songs via their phone and then somehow transfer them to their PC. They already enjoy ripping their tunes or purchasing via itunes. The first carrier to make a cutting edge phone that can store itunes and use said tunes for ringtones, ringbacks and general music listening will win and will big time. The walled garden of the wireless carrier is done. It was a good ride, folks with good margins, but it's time to move on.
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Oliver said 1:30PM on 1-03-2006
The first ROKR was total crap, which makes a lot of mac/iPod users say "so what?" to this news. But I've been giving a close look at the new SonyEricsson Walkman phones and they definitely pose real competition to the iPod. Of course, the iPod is and will remain better as a pure music/media player. The point is, though, that for a lot of people a mobile phone is more important than an mp3 player. Something like 10 million iPods have been sold in total, whereas per year 200+ million phones are sold. If apple's relationship with moto has broken down and they need to do something else to push into the mobile arena. Otherwise they will leave this massive opportunity open for the likes of Sony and Microsoft.
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Chanse said 1:34PM on 1-03-2006
I owned the ROKR and actually enjoyed the phone very much. I've read all the bad reviews of it, but i think it only got bad reviews because people expected more coming from a product that had an apple system in it. i'm looking forward to the new v3 with itunes. although xm radio on my cell phone would be pretty sweet, especially if i can hook it up to my imic in my car.
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pjmurphy said 1:35PM on 1-03-2006
I just bought a new Motorola phone. the SLVR (L7). It is the candybar version of the RAZR. It has iTunes and it is branded CINGULAR. not released yet.. friend of a friend..
here is a shot: http://thedailygadget.com/images/slvrtunes.jpg
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Joshua Ochs said 1:54PM on 1-03-2006
According to reports I've seen elsewhere (such as the original Times article) this phone will still support MP3 playback, just not via iTunes, and of course no iTMS/AAC files.
Still, if this is what it takes for Motorola to see that the phone was the problem, and for Apple to see that "100 songs" sucked, so be it.
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Bensun said 2:03PM on 1-03-2006
Shocker as to what might undoubtedly become the most interesting mac rumor thus far: what if Apple is suddenly getting into the Satellite Radio Business?
Think about it for a second... access to over at least a million songs (forgot the figure, perhaps 2 million), iPods everywhere coupled with no peripherals out on the market which would take away from third-party manufacturers (e.g. why they haven't added FM support / made it wireless (think iTrip) )
MacWorld is only a few days away, and there's only so much more they can do to the iPod. I'm just sayin. that
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christine said 2:25PM on 1-03-2006
#3, I have the sony walkman phone (which I'm returning... due to battery issues) and it is not anything to jump up and down about. I could only have about 10-12 songs on there and the phone does not transfer songs properly unless used with it's proprietary software that's included (which is only win xp compatable! for shame!!)
I hate Moto phones! I'm glad Apple is dumping partnership with them. Hopefully they can clamp onto Nokia. Hello N80!! ...sigh.
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christine said 2:27PM on 1-03-2006
pardon my grammar/spelling errors. first day back on the job from the holidays... still recovering.
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W. Ian Blanton said 12:11AM on 1-04-2006
I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it until proven wrong. Or right;
My interest in having my necessary-for-my-business cell phone die, just because I wanted to listen to a Warren Zevon song, is exactly _nil_. Listening to music is why I have an iPod. I don't mind features that are useful for me, maybe it would be different if my phone wasn't important for me professionally.
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skierpage said 8:36PM on 1-05-2006
New high-end phones all have MMC/XD/TransFLASH card slots. Surely you can transfer songs to a 512MB card from your home computer and bypass the stupid overpriced cellular providers' music services, just as you can put your own wallpaper and images on phones.
Someone *PLEASE* write "how-to" articles on which phones and third-party software make this easy!
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Nathan said 12:25AM on 1-06-2006
Could the reason for the E2 lacking iTunes be because of it's use of Motorola's new Linux based GUI?
All the other new phones they're launching, like the SLVR and the new RAZR, that have iTunes, are all still using the old GUI that everyone hates.
Although if Apple was developing iTunes for the new interface, one would have thought Motorola would hold back the E2 until it's ready - considering it IS a ROKR...
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