Verizon Wireless announced it will support phones that include MP3 players. The news comes a day ahead of the likely unveiling of Motorola Inc.’s iTunes-capable phone.
Verizon said three of its newly released Vcast phones will include digital music players. UTStarcom Inc.’s CDM-8940 and Motorola Inc.’s E815 will ship with built-in MP3 players, and customers who purchased LG Electronics Co. Ltd.’s VX8100-released in July-will be able to bring their phones to Verizon stores and get MP3 players installed in the devices.
“Not only are we the nation’s leading wireless service provider, we are the go-to wireless carrier for mobile music,” said Bill Stone, vice president of marketing for Verizon Wireless. “Customers have rocked to Vcast music videos that have included Green Day, John Legend and Shakira. Now they can download songs from those artists-and others-from any PC and listen to them on their wireless phones whenever they choose. It’s music that’s mobile-and on the same device they talk on everyday.”
The UTStarcom and LG phones retail for $100 with a service agreement, and the Motorola E815 sells for $150 with a service agreement.
Music phones are the latest trend to wash over the mobile-phone industry. Handset makers have been rushing to release a range of music-capable devices. Motorola’s forthcoming iTunes-capable phone is perhaps the most eagerly anticipated; the company along with iTunes vendor Apple Computer Inc. has scheduled announcements for tomorrow that likely will involve the unveiling of the phone.
Verizon’s new phones are designed to play digital music obtained on a desktop computer. However, wireless carriers are currently researching the market for over-the-air music downloads, which would allow users to wirelessly download full music tracks directly to their phones. The service could represent an additional revenue stream for carriers. KDDI Corp. in Japan currently offers such a service.
In other phone news, Boost Mobile introduced the Motorola i415 and i450 phones. The phones feature push-to-talk services, global positioning system and color screens and will sell for under $100.
