Phones That Play MP3s Arrive In US

Tue, Sep 9th 2003 2:52pm — Derek Kerton

AT&T has launched the new Nokia 3300 handset that provides phone, text messaging, and MP3 playback. The MP3s are stored on removable memory cards. This $199 device sounds great, but it brings up an interesting contrast: In Korea, I've been playing with AOD (audio on demand) terminals that allow customers to download MP3s through the SK Telecom network to the phone, but have no removable storage. The Korean example provides instant satisfaction and the ability to buy a song while mobile, where the AT&T example allows users more control over storage, and the ability to buy music from other sources than the cellular network (or pirate it). While the Korean model is great for the carrier, and provides royalties for the content provider, and gives instant gratification to the customer, ultimately the customers will want removable storage that isn't limited like internal memory. Eventually, we'll see the AT&T and SKT models merge in most markets, and we'll have phones that play music on removable storage that was bought either through the carrier's 3G network (with a mobility surcharge) or through a non-mobile method.

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amorgan, 9 Sep 2003 @ 2:52pm

handsets in the next 12 months
Reading the volume of press releases is confusing. For content providers not in the the gaming & music categories - which are the best, more mass-market handsets to build services around??
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Derek Kerton (profile), 9 Sep 2003 @ 2:52pm

Best Platforms
AMorgan, The best strategy is, of course, to target the devices that will provide critical mass of users. In general, this means that targeting devices will fail, and that targeting platforms is better. For mobile use, a few promising platforms these days are: BREW, J2ME, PalmOS, PocketPC for the Americas. Europe would add Symbian to the list (possibly the Nokia Series 60 flavor of Symbian). In Japan, you could add DoJa, while in Korea global standards prevail, but something called WIPI is emerging. This is the type of consulting service my firm provides. If anyone wants more info, please contact me.
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