Apple in deal with Cingular to offer Motorola iTunes phone [UPDATED]

“Apple Computer has reached an agreement with Cingular Wireless to offer a Motorola cellphone that will play songs from Apple’s iTunes Music Store, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Apple also may introduce a line of iPod digital music players intended to replace its hugely popular iPod mini line, a person familiar with the matter said. The announcements could come as soon as next week, according to the Journal. Cingular is expected to make the phone available in time for Christmas. Officials at Apple, cell phone maker Motorola and Cingular, a joint venture of SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp., declined to comment.

Full article (subscription required) here.

In late June, Sinead Carew reported for Reuters, “‘Motorola and Apple have been talking to Cingular about it using the iTunes phone,’ according to one of the sources, who asked not to be named. RBC Capital analyst Mark Sue said in a recent research note that Apple and Cingular were working out final details on revenue sharing.”

Full article (subscription required) here.

“Apple Computer and Motorola plan to unveil a long-awaited mobile phone and music player next week that will incorporate Apple’s iTunes software, a telecommunications industry analyst who has been briefed on the announcement said on Monday,” Matt Richtel reports for The New York Times. “The development marks a melding of two of the digital era’s most popular devices, the cellphone and the iPod, which has become largely synonymous with the concept of downloading songs from the Internet or transferring them from compact discs.”

Richtel reports that Roger Entner, a telecommunications analyst with Ovum, a market research firm, said he had been told by an industry executive that the new phone, to be made by Motorola, “would be marketed by Cingular Wireless” and that “the software will allow people to transfer songs from a personal computer to the mobile phone, then listen to the songs, presumably through headphones. ‘It’s a deluxe music player now on your cellphone,’ he said of the device.”

According to Richtel, Apple, Motorola and Cingular all declined to confirm or deny the report. But Apple did announce on Monday that it would hold a major news event on September 7th in San Francisco that it suggested was music-related.

Full article (free registration required) here.

Engadget is reporting that a source involved with making the commercials for the new handset has confirmed that the Motorola iTunes device “will hold 100 songs because Apple is worried about cannibalizing iPod shuffle sales.” Engadget also has more information about upcoming TV commercials for the device here.

Related articles:
Analysts speculate on what Apple CEO Steve Jobs will unveil during ‘special event’ next Wednesday – August 29, 2005
Apple announces ‘special event’ to be held September 7th – August 29, 2005
Report: Motorola to debut ROKR Apple iTunes phone on September 7 – August 25, 2005
Motorola: ROKR Apple iTunes phone debut ‘big enough to have its own event’ – August 19, 2005
Report: Motorola Apple iTunes phone won’t debut at Virgin Mobile V Fest, to appear Q4 2005 – August 19, 2005
Motorola ROKR Apple iTunes phone to offer as much storage ‘as the average home computer’ by 2007 – August 03, 2005
Report: Motorola Apple iTunes phone to debut in UK on August 20th – July 28, 2005
Report: Motorola Apple iTunes phone ‘ROKR E1’ to launch in UK in July, US in August – July 14, 2005
Apple’s iTunes 4.9 contains many hints of iTunes music phone – June 28, 2005
Motorola, Microsoft unveil RAZR-thin Windows smartphone, Apple iTunes phone deal still unclear – July 26, 2005
Motorola to announce Apple iTunes phone via webcast on July 25? – July 20, 2005
Motorola to unveil Apple iTunes mobile phone during UK’s V Festival – July 11, 2005
Photos of Motorola E790 ‘Apple iTunes phone’ posted online – July 04, 2005
Report: existing Motorola handsets talk to Apple’s iTunes 4.9 – June 30, 2005
MacDailyNews Exclusive: Leaked images of Motorola Apple iTunes phone? – June 29, 2005
Apple iTunes phone image shown by Motorola execs in Beijing? – June 28, 2005
Cingular Wireless considering selling Motorola Apple iTunes mobile phone – June 24, 2005
Motorola CEO: Apple iTunes mobile phone on track for July debut, carriers not balking – May 18, 2005
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

22 Comments

  1. wow, 100 songs. they really aim to be badasses from start – I thought maybe 4-5 songs…with an BTO option to carry a whole 10 songs.
    The songs from iTunes will be downgraded to 96kbps of course since it’s been proven by steve jobs himself that no one actually hears the difference. But hey, the accessories aftermarket will run havoc.

  2. As usual all the cool new cell phone technology isn’t available to Verizon customers. If corporate moguls think Apple is a “stick-in-the-mud”, then they haven’t dealt with Verizon. I’d switch to Cingular/AT&T in a snap if I could get it here.

    Crap!

  3. Yawn. The mini is not really an iPod due to its limited hard drive space. There’s so much more you can do with an iPod. A phone is not a shuffle either. I’m interested to see what it looks like and how it reviews. I’m not about to jump up and buy one though. I have an iPod and I have a cell phone that mostly works. A cell phone that can hold 100 songs might as well hold none.

  4. I think this is a defensive move by Apple. I personally don’t care about MP3 support in my phone. I only use my Shuffle while I’m working out or when I’m on a plane. I don’t want to be disturbed with phone calls during those times.

    It is good for Apple to experiment just in case it does take off then they will have a play + there are a lot more cell phones than MP3 players.

    My 2 cents.

  5. I wish I cared about this, but I don’t. Hopefully, if this is what the announcement is next week, and I’d bet it is, it’ll either be unexpectedly mind-blowing in some unforeseen way, or there will be more to it, like the release of iTunes 5 or something.

  6. Wow, some of the anti-Apple venom at the Engadget site is reminiscent of the post-lemmings-commercial anti-Apple blowback. What makes people detest Apple so much? My brother-in-law used to “hate” Apple, though he admittedly had never used a Mac or an Apple computer. But once he got his hands on an iPod and used iTunes, he said “now I understand why you like their stuff so much.” But over at Engadget, there is also a fair amount of anti-iPod and anti-iTunes vitriol. Not from the site authors, but from the commenters. Wonder if these folks ever stopped to think how gray their world would be without companies like Apple.

  7. “Wow, some of the anti-Apple venom at the Engadget site “

    Yeah, probably half of those people or more haven’t even used a modern Macintosh. That’s the problem…they whine. And they are mostly all anti-Apple. I don’t know what their problem is, but they HATE the iPod. It’s like some small little piece of electronic gear is threatening their manhood or something. It’s funny to watch, but just sad, really…

    The dolts will wake up some day.

  8. The music industry is counting on mobile phones countering the enormous popularity of the iPod, thereby twarting the power of Apple to dictate song pricing.

    This agreement punches all kinds of holes in that scenario.

    I’m curious though, RingTones cost about $2.50 each and aren’t original artist playbacks. Will Apple allow you to edit down legally purchased iTMS songs for use as a RingTone? Considering that RingTones generate far more revenue than does complete songs, this could be a huge motivator to switch to Cingular and get an iTunes phone. I know my daughter would switch just as soon as her present contract expires.

Reader Feedback

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.