“The long-awaited iTunes music phone from Motorola Inc. and Apple Computer Inc. will be introduced Wednesday and could be in stores later this week,” Jon Van writes for The South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “Motorola’s new phone, which will operate on the Cingular Wireless network, will be “the next generation of Swiss Army Knife cell phones,” said Mitch Mitchell, an A.T. Kearney vice president, combining functions of Apple’s iPod music player with voice, messaging and other cell phone features.”
“Other mobile phone-makers, including Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung, have introduced music phones or plan to do so soon, but Motorola’s version–based on Apple’s pioneering and popular iTunes format–has generated the most interest,” Van writes. “Schaumburg-based Motorola earlier signaled an iTunes phone announcement but backed away at the insistence of Apple, which traditionally announces new products shortly before they are available in stores rather than months in advance as is common in the wireless phone industry.”
Van writes “Neil Strother, mobile devices research director at market research firm NPD Group, [says], ‘It’s a no-brainer to do this, but whenever a new device comes in, every first generation has issues,, he said. One concern may be battery life, he said. Users of both mobile phones and iPods have noticed how often they must recharge their batteries to keep the gadgets operating. ‘I know the engineers have been working on this for years, but by adding cell phone function to iPod function, you wonder how long the batteries will last before they need charging,’ he said.”
Full article here.
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