Gigacore
Dreamweaver
Nokia and Vodafone will try to take on the might of Apple today with the launch of two new music download services to rival iTunes.
Nokia's Music Store gives mobile phone users access to millions of tracks from major record labels for 68p each — iTunes tracks are 79p.
The songs can be downloaded directly on to new Nokia handsets, which can hold up to 6,000 tracks, the same storage capacity as an iPod Nano.
This will pit them directly against Apple's iPhone, a combined mobile phone and digital music player that allows users to download songs directly on to their handsets from the iTunes wireless music store.
Subscribers to Vodafone's MusicStation will also have access to more than a million tracks, which they can download directly to specific handsets for £1.99 a week.
However, that £1.99 fee allows customers to rent rather than own the downloaded tracks. When they stop paying the weekly fee, their music becomes unplayable.
The launch of the two stores comes a week before the long-awaited iPhone goes on sale in Britain. Buyers will have to sign an 18-month contract with the O2 network, although some "hackers" in the United States have managed to remove this limit and use their iPhones with networks other than the one chosen by Apple.
The iPhone's arrival has prompted other network providers and handset makers to rush out a range of rival services and devices in an attempt to stop their customers deserting them.
But Arash Amel, the chief analyst at Screen Digest, said it was unlikely that Nokia or Vodafone would manage to steal a march on Apple. He called iTunes "a very slick and easy-to-use product", adding: "It's a challenge for any company to create something as compelling as that. So far, no one has." online
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Nokia's Music Store gives mobile phone users access to millions of tracks from major record labels for 68p each — iTunes tracks are 79p.
The songs can be downloaded directly on to new Nokia handsets, which can hold up to 6,000 tracks, the same storage capacity as an iPod Nano.
This will pit them directly against Apple's iPhone, a combined mobile phone and digital music player that allows users to download songs directly on to their handsets from the iTunes wireless music store.
Subscribers to Vodafone's MusicStation will also have access to more than a million tracks, which they can download directly to specific handsets for £1.99 a week.
However, that £1.99 fee allows customers to rent rather than own the downloaded tracks. When they stop paying the weekly fee, their music becomes unplayable.
The launch of the two stores comes a week before the long-awaited iPhone goes on sale in Britain. Buyers will have to sign an 18-month contract with the O2 network, although some "hackers" in the United States have managed to remove this limit and use their iPhones with networks other than the one chosen by Apple.
The iPhone's arrival has prompted other network providers and handset makers to rush out a range of rival services and devices in an attempt to stop their customers deserting them.
But Arash Amel, the chief analyst at Screen Digest, said it was unlikely that Nokia or Vodafone would manage to steal a march on Apple. He called iTunes "a very slick and easy-to-use product", adding: "It's a challenge for any company to create something as compelling as that. So far, no one has." online
Source
