“Motorola Inc. Chief Executive Ed Zander said mobile phone carriers aren’t balking at his company’s plan to sell a phone that doubles as a music player. ‘There is no resistance on anybody’s part,’ Zander said. ‘I don’t know where these rumors got started,” The Chicago Tribune reports. “Zander said the phone, known as Rokr, will be out in ‘a couple of more months,’ reiterating comments he made April 20. Schaumburg-based Motorola said in July that it was developing a phone that uses Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes software to play music.”
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Motorola expects to launch first Apple iTunes phone this summer, second iTunes phone in 4th quarter – May 11, 2005
Motorola’s Apple iTunes phone software screenshots posted online – May 11, 2005
Will cellphones eat Apple’s iPod or vice versa? – May 09, 2005
Bona fide Apple iPod killer? Nokia’s 4GB mobile ‘jukebox’ phone due by Christmas – April 28, 2005
Can mobile phones and telecoms kill Apple’s golden iPod+iTunes combo? – April 26, 2005
Motorola CEO Zander: Apple iTunes phone due ‘in the next few months’ – April 20, 2005
RUMOR: Apple’s iTunes Mobile 1.0 to be ready by June – April 20, 2005
Verizon, Sprint, other wireless companies balk at carrying Apple’s and Motorola’s ‘iPod phone’ – April 19, 2005
Motorola to unveil iRadio – PC to Mobile to Car Stereo service – April 18, 2005
Will Motorola’s Apple iTunes phone make it to market? – March 28, 2005
BusinessWeek: What’s going on with the Motorola Apple iTunes mobile phone? – March 24, 2005
So who’s really delaying the Motorola iTunes phone anyway? – March 21, 2005
Motorola exec: Apple iTunes phone debut delayed by Steve Jobs; phones will launch in 2005 – March 16, 2005
Motorola’s Apple iTunes phone in trouble? – March 14, 2005
Motorola says iTunes phone unveiling delay not caused by dispute with carriers – March 10, 2005
Motorola says it’s working on more iTunes phones, some models ‘can store eight hours of music’ – March 10, 2005
Motorola indefinitely postpones Apple iTunes phone unveiling – March 10, 2005
Motorola’s ‘ROKR’ Apple iTunes mobile phone to be unveiled this Thursday – March 06, 2005
Motorola’s yet-to-be-unveiled ‘ROKR’ phone will be first Apple iTunes phone – February 16, 2005
Nokia to use Microsoft’s music formats on its handsets – February 15, 2005
Motorola E1060 not, repeat not, the iTunes phone – February 16, 2005
Motorola executive previews iTunes Phone at CES, syncs to iTunes like an Apple iPod – January 06, 2005
Apple’ prodigious hardware and software design skills may help Motorola create iPod phone – December 28, 2004
Apple, Motorola iTunes on cell phones a harmonious deal that benefits both companies – August 05, 2004
Motorola posts Steve Jobs’ Apple iTunes announcement video – July 28, 2004
Apple, Motorola iTunes deal not exclusive, debuts Apple’s licensing of FairPlay DRM – July 27, 2004
Motorola and Apple to bring iTunes Music Player to Motorola’s next-gen mobile phones – July 26, 2004
Looks like Apple and Motorola will be FIRST out of the box with a USABLE music phone!
If it can’t take photos and movies, if it doesn’t record sound and play FM radio and if it doesn’t make smoothies I don’t want one.
Making smoothies is the deal breaker for me.
Definitely the first one that people will be familiar with it’s function and where and how they can get their music from.
I want to know if you’ll be able to set any song in your Library as your ringer?!?! I don’t see why not and that would put a serious damper on the pirates stealing billions of dollars a year by selling 30 second clips of poor quality, crappy songs.
And I hope it has a decent speaker phone on it.
I just hope Cingular carries this phone.
Crouching: “I want to know if you’ll be able to set any song in your Library as your ringer?!?! I don’t see why not and that would put a serious damper on the pirates stealing billions of dollars a year by selling 30 second clips of poor quality, crappy songs.”
That’s why I’m surprised any provider would want to carry this without some sort of $ from Motorolla.
MDN Magic Word: “support”, as in Verizon doesn’t need to subsidize the right phone, I’ll pay for a quality device, however, it does need to support all of its features so I don’t end up with another disabled phone.
Al,
Funny, I was hoping for a combination tire gauge and espresso maker on my next cellphone…
After all, it’s obvious the carriers have given up on ubiquitous signal availability.
Do they make one that comes with the Swiss Army knife set? Some time I like to use my phone to cut something when I am camping. My point is how many more functions can we cram into a tiny phone? I want it to receive satellite radio, acts as a warlike talkie, may be a small fan when the weather is hot. Oh, I want to use my phone as electric shaver and since it has a vibrator built in, why not make it vibrate stronger so it can massage my sour neck. I want to be able to fend off muggers with the phone which splits and function as a nunchuck. It would be nice if my phone can act as a flash light, hand drill at the same time and my list goes on and on…….
I KNOW IT PROBABLY A TOTALLY NEW CONCEPT – BUT…
How about a mobile phone that you can make telephone calls on??
And not one that takes crappy low res photos (without a flash!) or has everything thrown in – including the kitchen sink, full of functions that NO ONE USES!
My mobile does everything BUT there are only 2 fucntions that are any good:
1. Making telephone calls
2. Address book
All the other bloated crap on it is about as useful as a chocloate fireguard!
LESS IS MORE – JUST LOOK AT THE IPOD – A PRIME EXAMPLE!
Dear Motorola,
Please make the hardware somewhat cool (use the razor or something). Also, please improve your OS as well, improvements as basic as multiple phone numbers per contact in your phonebook application. Macheads are very demanding when it comes to hardware/GUI design, don’t just throw the music store on your current phone OS, which is horrible, and your current phone selection (except maybe the razor).
Thanks
P.S. You would think Apple would be a lot more controlling over what phone/OS the iTMS is available on since user experience is key.
iTunes, movie videos thru h.264, and then video conferencing? Doesn’t seem that far away does it?
What a bunch of BS all those “reports” were that claimed provider opposition–amazing that so much conventional wisdom was so wrong, but given the terrible quality of much journalism today, I guess it’s not that surprising.
Oh, of course those “analysts” spreading this FUD were full of it too, but those guys never had credibility. Journalists used to be better than that, weren’t they?
I hate mobile phones
i can already transfer my music from my mac to my samsung D500 via bluetooth (about 20secs for a regular mp3)…
i can set those tracks as my ringtone if i like…
the phone comes with a very basic mp3 player. a robust loudspeaker and a nice set of headfones.
I’ve currently got about 20 mp3’s on there – around 100 pics (1.2mp) – and about 5 short movie clips (.mp4) – thats as well as address book, messages, e-mails, etc etc.
its been on the market for nearly 7 months.
so whats so new about this thing?
oh i see… apple are making a front end to what the player looks like…
well blow me down with a feather! what a revelation!
for f**ks sake – who cares?! apple need to make the actual unit! the real hardware! – unless the entire phone is driven by software developed by apple – WHO CARES ABOUT WHAT THE LITTLE BAR THAT TELLS YOU HOW MUCH OF THE TRACK YOU’VE LISTENED TO LOOKS LIKE????
i bet it’ll be blue.
I agree macman…
while my Motorola cell works well as a mobile phone, it doesn’t have the cool UI factor my iBook has…
once UWB BT comes along – it’ll make file tranfer easer and quicker too
I’m going to wait and see what the reaction is when this thing comes out. The BS could be coming from Motorola as well as the other guys. My questions will be:
How much will the phone cost?
Which carriers will take it up?
How much space will be available for songs?
Can you sync it to your computer?
#2 is the biggie. We’ll have to wait and see.
LESS IS MORE – JUST LOOK AT THE IPOD – A PRIME EXAMPLE!
Aye laddy … I see it, I see it.
I have a horrible feeling that it will be ugly. I don’t know why. I have no reason to say it other than a feeling. I hope it doesn’t sue the traditional Phone look (i’m talking about GUI not the actual phone). I just hope it looks more like a Apple product.
SEE! All those ultra-capitalist carriers are trying to dominate the working classes – leveraging their power to keep pacifist companies like Apple, who just want to help the starving masses, from giving us free stuff! Help! I’m being repressed!
Huh? Those were just goofy reactionary rumors? Never mind…
I have a horrible feeling that it will be ugly. I don’t know why.
—
Still thinking about that bright green thing we thought was gonna be the itunes phone probably..
dude chill .. itll probably just be an off white razr.. to match the 20G ipod..
dont expect pastel just yet..
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SEE! All those ultra-capitalist carriers are trying to dominate the working classes – leveraging their power to keep pacifist companies like Apple, who just want to help the starving masses, from giving us free stuff! Help! I’m being repressed!
Huh? Those were just goofy reactionary rumors? Never mind…
——–
Okay, youre not a Commie, chill.
This phone is turning into “Vapor Ware” like Longhorn…
Get it out already damnit.
“…Okay, youre not a Commie, chill.”
Heh heh – sorry, it’s just that I sat through rant after rant a few days ago saying essentially that same crap… and it was all based on nothing… bwaaa-haa-haa
ok, sorry again –
I really hope this is not just some typical shitty phone with itunes installed.
I hope Apple really got involved with Motorola and helped them rethink the entire phone OS and experience.
And Jobs got personally involved.
That phone would sell in the tens of millions and be great for Apple and Motorola.
Fingers crossed…
I need a phone with a stun gun attachment.