Can Nokia kill the iPod?

Conventional tech wisdom tells us that convergence will conquer all. People don't want to lug around multiple devices when they can have one device that does it well. Sadly, this isn't as easy as it sounds.

Take, for example, two pieces of tech that seem pretty standard issue now a days: the cell phone and the iPod. Motorola tried to combine the two with the ROKR and it didn't work out all that well (they were even working with Apple). The trick is that you can't just combine a crappy phone and a crappy MP3 player and hope for the best. This is why the iPhone rumors are so persistent; Apple is known as a company that 'gets it' therefore, so goes the thinking, an über-phone from Apple will solve all of our problems.

Alexander Dryer thinks that Nokia has beaten Apple to the punch with the N91, pictured to the right. It has a 4 gig harddrive, dedicated controls (which slide down to reveal a keypad), a remote, and it plays protected Windows Media files, and AAC's (though not music purchased at the iTunes Store). Alexander was impressed with the quality of the software on the phone and the ease with which he was able to transfer music from his MacBook Pro to his N91. You read that correctly, Nokia provides an OS X app called The Nokia Music Manager which allows you to transfer songs from iTunes to your phone.

So, will customers clamor for all in ones and leave Apple behind? I can't predict the future, but at this point I wouldn't bet against Apple, though the N91 does look pretty slick.

Thanks, Mikek.
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