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Media Communications Microsoft Music

Nokia To Use Microsoft Digital Music Software 180

Posted by timothy from the battle-lines dept.
BCMM writes "From an article on Reuters: 'The world's largest mobile phone maker, Nokia, and software giant Microsoft struck a deal on Monday to make it easier for consumers to buy digital music on-line and play it back on their handsets ... Nokia agreed to put Microsoft's music player software into its handsets.'" (The BBC covers the deal as well.) "The articles don't mention what sort of DRM or licensing will be involved." jfanning writes "Two new Series 60 phones were also announced that ship soon and support WMA, the 6680 and 6681. I haven't seen it mentioned clearly yet, but also the Media Transfer Protocol has been licenced, so that could mean the phone will show up as a media device in Windows Media 10." jfanning mentions also that Nokia has licensed the Microsoft Exchange Server ActiveSync protocol for business phones.
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Nokia To Use Microsoft Digital Music Software More

Nokia To Use Microsoft Digital Music Software

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  • In other news (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    SonyEriccsson reported sales increases of its handsets rose

    • SonyEriccsson reported sales increases of its handsets rose

      Apart from 6680 and 6681
    • SonyEriccsson reported sales increases of its handsets rose

      Wow! The sales increased, and THEN the "sales increases" themselves rose? That would definately fall into the catagory of DoublePlusGood(TM).

      • Granted it was most likely a mistake, but it's not unusual to report on both the first and second derivatives of things like sales (assume S = unit sales, S' = increase/decrease in unit sales, S'' is the rate at which S' is changing). In fact the second derivative is far more interesting, because if your absolute unit sales are increasing but the rate of increase is busy slowing down (i.e. S'' is negative), you will not see this important harbinger until it's too late (i.e. until S' goes negative) if you on

    • I'M serious. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Ungrounded Lightning ( 62228 ) on Monday February 14, 2005 @04:06PM (#11671031) Journal
      In other news (Score:2, Funny) SonyEriccsson reported sales increases of its handsets rose

      That got modded "funny" but I'm dead serious.

      I've been thinking about switching to a non-Nokia phone for my next cellphone upgrade. This clinches it.

      It's bad enough that some of the existing phones are subject to attack over bluetooth. Can you imagine them with Microsoft code inside?

      Maybe Microsoft WILL clean up their act here. But even if they do, given their track record I won't be able to trust them.
      • Why wouldn't you switch away from Nokia? They've done nothing but design craptastic keyboards for the last three years. Like I want to dial on a Nike-swooosh or something.

        I bought a SonyEriiccssoonn (I can never remember which letters are doubled, so I doubled them all) T-637 last year, and have been very happy with it. Sound quality is OK, but the Bluetooth support just rocks! As a matter of fact, I'm running off to go have a Bluetooth car handsfree kit installed for it right this minute.

        And nobody

      • Funny, I was just shopping for a new Nokia phone when I read about this, and also decided it's time to switch to another brand.

        (I suppose that might make me a zealot in some eyes, but I have to deal with enough of MS's crappy overpriced half-broken junk APIs and OS in my "professional" life as software developer, and I really just don't want their brand anywhere else in my life, nor do I want to support a company that clearly has never cared about quality.)

      • Try it.

        I recently changed to an SE T630. The sound quality whupped the Nokia straight out, and the BlueTooth was far superior. My Nokia 6600 is now basically a camera and storage device, with the memory card.

        On the downside, the T630 has a smaller screen and doesn't support many formats.

        The next one I go for will probably be a 900i or something.

  • Yay! WMA on my phone! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Augusto ( 12068 ) on Monday February 14, 2005 @02:54PM (#11670114) Homepage
    Now I can unwittingly download the latest spyware!
  • And DRM still sucks.

  • Motorola & Apple (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Make it easier for consumers to buy digital music on-line and play it back on their handsets?

    Somehow I doubt it will be easier than iTunes, and since Motorola allready teamed up with Apple's iTunes...
    • It's just all gone wrong. It should have been Apple + Nokia and Microsoft + Motorola.

      Think about it. Nokia is known for their UI where every detail is thoroughly researched for userfriendliness and simplicity. So is Apple.

      The last Motorola phone I owned had a UI that was worthless. So I think the Motorola phones designers don't deserve any better than Microsoft.

  • Where's my stream? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by EspressoMachine ( 815675 ) on Monday February 14, 2005 @02:56PM (#11670142)
    I want my mobile to be able to stream music. And for that matter, I also want my car stereo to be able to receive streaming audio. Downloading is so yesterday, who wants to pay per song? As a Rhapsody subscriber, I'd love to access my playlists through my phone or my car - Get on it, guys!

    • Duh (Score:5, Funny)

      by dsmitchell1 ( 720633 ) on Monday February 14, 2005 @03:14PM (#11670368)
      Your car already has streaming audio. It's called radio!

      • Re:Duh (Score:1, Interesting)

        by EspressoMachine ( 815675 )

        You still listen to radio?

        Given the choice between Clear Channel's playlist and my own, I think I'll take mine, but thanks anyway.

    • I totally agree.. To some extent you CAN stream to certain cellphones now, such as ones that can run Real Player (I believe) from Nokia [realnetworks.com]. Also, the Treo 600 can stream SHOUTcast. I've never had one of these devices to try it for myself, but I think it's possible.

      I set up my own SHOUTcast server over my crappy DSL and use it to stream all my music so I can listen at work... I (and others) can request songs over instant messenger.. I would love to be able to listen to my shizznit in the car or anywhere usi

    • Re:Where's my stream? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by gl4ss ( 559668 )
      umts + laptop and you'll have it(or whatever it is thats the fastspeed network where you live).

      or just edge.

      and just the phone if you do some creative coding(s60 is open so far after all for you, me and anybody to write on).

    • Re:Where's my stream? (Score:3, Informative)

      by javaxman ( 705658 )
      I want my mobile to be able to stream music

      As much as they'd like to be able to eventually sell this service, I'm not sure most cell phone companies want you to stay on the phone _quite_ so constantly. Their networks depend on the fact that not everyone is using their phones at once. A single cell tower can support only so many callers. Ever try to make a call in an area where you know you can get service and not be able to connect? Until that problem goes away, you won't see the streaming service... not f

  • Interesting (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Joshua53077 ( 849570 ) on Monday February 14, 2005 @02:57PM (#11670145)
    It does make sense that the media companies (i.e. MS, Apple, Napster, etc.) are trying to lock up license agreements with cell phone makers but why wouldn't these companies go after the cell phone providers instead? I mean, if Apple came up with an agreement with Verizon to be their exclusive provider of music, wouldn't it force the cell phone makers to engineer apple's DRM and iTunes into their future phones? And put another way, if I were a cell phone carrier, wouldn't I want a piece of the action and the opportunity to control media standards?
    • Oh great, you've given them ideas now. Next thing you know, the provider will call you, put you on hold (listening to music that you must pay for), and you won't be able to hang up!

      Thanks a lot.

      • a huge 80's style boom box/cell phone that the kids could carry on their shoulders and they could blast their newly purchased music or their phone call, so be thankful I only floated the first idea. :-P
    • >I mean, if Apple came up with an agreement with Verizon to be their exclusive provider of music

      Why would Verizon want to sign such an agreement with **Apple**? Cut out the middleman, I says.

      >wouldn't it force the cell phone makers to engineer apple's DRM and iTunes into their future phones?

      That seems to be likely and that is why Verizon wouldn't want to have Apple as an exclusive provider - that would automatically make all of their (multimedia-capable) phones more expensive (for the amount of roy
      • Why would Verizon want to sign such an agreement with **Apple**? Cut out the middleman, I says.

        While it would seem to make more sense for a company like Verizon to go straight to the source for the music, it would also be easier and more lucrative to utilize someone like Apple or Napster or Microsoft, who already have licenses with all the major and a good deal of the minor records labels, for their services. It's all about marketing and when consumers think of online music purchases they are immediate

  • Crashes.... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by FalconZero ( 607567 ) * <FalconZero&Gmail,com> on Monday February 14, 2005 @02:57PM (#11670153)
    Nokia is a type of PHONE
    T-Mobile is a type of NETWORK
    Sheessh - If you're gonna make up random things to get FP, at least make them vaugley techincally correct.

    Anyway... As for Nokia - The rest of my devices running MS stuff crash - Why Oh Why would I want my phone to crash as well??? I can just see it now. "Hello Bob, I need you to look up error code 61023... Bob? Bob?... damn - my phone's rebooted."

  • In Other News... (Score:4, Funny)

    by bigtallmofo ( 695287 ) on Monday February 14, 2005 @02:58PM (#11670161)
    Motorola has announced that they have signed a deal with Microsoft to implement the stunningly successful Microsoft Bob into their new line of phones.

  • Because after all, we all love... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Tackhead ( 54550 ) on Monday February 14, 2005 @02:58PM (#11670165)
    > struck a deal on Monday to make it easier for consumers to buy digital music on-line and play it back on their handsets ...

    ...aah, in rapture to Beethoven's Ninth, compressed to a 32kbps mono .WMV, gloriously rendered on a tinny piezoelectric speaker.

    Turning phones into music rental devices seems to fall under the "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should" category.

    Even if you stuck a headphone jack into your phone to get around the shitty piezo speaker problem, consider that if you actually plan to use your phone for something (oh, I don't know, say, talking on it?), why would you want to wear down its battery by playing music on it?

    • There's this neat thing called a "battery charger" that comes with most phones. The battery life of most mobile phones is more than sufficient for most people (meaning the length of time they do not have access to their charger). Why not not make something you carry most of the time more useful?

      I use my mobile phone to play music when I go to the gym. This way I only have one thing to deal with instead of having to deal with a seperate music player.

      • Yeah, my phone battery life is fine too, as long as I don't actually talk on the phone. If I actually use the phone much, then I need to recharge it.

        WTF is the point of having something that's "mobile" if you have to drag around a battery charger just to use it? The last thing I need is a phone that's dead after 1 day just because I forgot to put it on the charger for one night. Or worse, dies just before I need to make a call because I played music on it all day at work.

        Most MP3 players don't have suc
    • Turning phones into music rental devices seems to fall under the "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should" category.

      I bet you said the same thing about cameras in phones. The market is now consoldating personal gadgets, we got phones, cameras(now even decent cameras), pdas combining together. There's alreay phones on the market that can accept flash cards and play mp3s, combine that the dropping price of flash storage and you have a good market.

      BTW. There's a few services that you "rent" musi

      • I bet you said the same thing about cameras in phones.
        I still do say the same thing about cameras in phones. And color screens on phones for that matter.

        I dropped my cellphone contract a few months ago. If I ever have to get one and can't get a phone without all that crap in it, I'll probably just give up and decide I don't really need a phone, anyway.

    • Re:Because after all, we all love... (Score:4, Informative)

      by tongue ( 30814 ) on Monday February 14, 2005 @03:16PM (#11670397) Homepage

      Even if you stuck a headphone jack into your phone to get around the shitty piezo speaker problem, consider that if you actually plan to use your phone for something (oh, I don't know, say, talking on it?), why would you want to wear down its battery by playing music on it?

      Yeah, actually, not only would i, but I've been screaming for the ability to do so for years. Now I can stick a miniSD card into my cell phone and have a small "emergency supply" of music on hand whenever I need it, without having to carry around an extra gadget. And not only can I play Beethoven's 9th in 32kb mono wma, but also in 192kb vorbis, 128kb wma, and anything in between if i so choose. Not to mention the ability to put videos on my phone--now if i can just get tivo to let me store as wm10 content i can watch 24 on my phone as well.

      As for the charging, the engineers made a very wise decision in allowing the phone to charge over USB, so when i hook it up to sync to my desktop, its also charging for me, which means I only have to carry around a small USB cable instead of a whole charger, and i can charge off anything with a USB port, even if the phone's software isn't installed on the computer. hell, i can even charge off linux. :)

      (for those wondering, the phone in question is the Audiovox SMT5600, not the nokias mentioned above, but the same principles apply.)
      • ... Now I can stick a miniSD card into my cell phone and have a small "emergency supply" of music on hand whenever I need it...

        Are you so hard up for music that you need an "emergency supply" with you? ...damn hoss.
      • now if i can just get tivo to let me store as wm10 content i can watch 24 on my phone as well

        If you get a Microsoft Media Center, you can just go into windows media player 10, and it'll detect the phone, find your tv shows, and then you just tell it to copy them to the phone and it'll do all the transcoding for you.
        It's all pretty cool when it just all works together. Of course it does require you to have a very MS centric setup.
    • Alex: No. No! NO! Stop it! Stop it, please! I beg you! This is sin! This is sin! This is sin! It's a sin, it's a sin, it's a sin!

      Dr. Brodsky: Sin? What's all this about sin?

      Alex: That! Using Ludwig van like that! He did no harm to anyone. Beethoven just wrote music!


      And "La Cucaracha" in polyphonic clarity!

    • Re:Because after all, we all love... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by skubeedooo ( 826094 ) on Monday February 14, 2005 @03:36PM (#11670663)
      When I'm listening to my mp3 player, i can't hear my phone ring. And i can't feel it vibrate because it's usually in my bag (i don't like leaving it in my pocket all the time). This obviously causes a problem, because if i'm expecting a call then i have to not listen to music, and if i'm not expecting a call then i'll probably miss it.

      And regarding batteries, i have a charger at home and at work. Most of my friends have nokia phone chargers. If listening to music through my phone reduces the battery to, say, 5 hours, then i probably won't care.

      I find it really bizarre how the slashdot community has so many neo-luddites. Just because this technology is not perfectly set up for how YOU listen to music, or how YOU use your phone, it doesn't mean it isn't good for others. Sometimes i get the feeling that my grandparents are more adaptable to change than the average slashdot reader.

  • People that buy these... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Sheetrock ( 152993 ) on Monday February 14, 2005 @02:59PM (#11670176) Homepage Journal
    Are definitely into it for the gadgetry rather than the purpose. Unfortunately, that serendipity in addition to the average longevity of cellular hardware and batteries in general contributes to a major environmental problem.

    Granted, the manufacturing processes have gotten better, or at least have been outsourced to other countries, but we desparately need to find a way to extend the life of old electronics and recycling components in order to develop a environmentally-safe and sustainable electronic culture.

  • Just wait till Microsoft trademarks a ringtone that you can't change. Or maybe it will just be Bill Gates cackling like a maniac.
    • Nah...

      I'd rather have the audio from the Monkey Boy Dance playing when someone annoying calls me. "Give it up for me!"

  • Too much of even a good thing makes you barf. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by nomad63 ( 686331 ) on Monday February 14, 2005 @03:00PM (#11670186)
    I am talking about consolidation here. You consolidate your PDA with your phone. Fine. It was a wise move not to carry two separate address/phone books. It was vital and trivial decision for the business minded. But Music on my phone at the same time in return for a M$ DRM installed on my phone ? I don't know how'bout you but I do not feel my contacts staying secure after some piece of micro$oft code placed in my phone.
    Obviously this unti is going to be targetted at the college kids but, how many college kids have the money to throw away on DRM'ed song downloading anyway.
    In my opinion, this is going to be another one of Nokia's flops.
    • I never consolidated -- I carry both a Palm and a cell phone, and have for the last 8 years.

      I watched friends buy every combined device ever made, from the original Qualcomm brick-phone (thing weighed in around a pound) to various Kyoceras, Visorphones, and a couple of other hybrid things. One of my buddies went through three separate devices trying to find one that worked well. He's now back to a Verizon phone (with crippled bluetooth support) and a Palm Tungsten T3.

      The problem is the form factor of

  • Now... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by CapnGrunge ( 233552 )
    Clueless cellphone users will add to clueless computer users for us to deal with.

  • Microsoft? Open Standards? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 14, 2005 @03:01PM (#11670204)
    Microsoft will introduce open standards for digital music compression and piracy protection in its Media Players for personal computers

    HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! (sniff - wipes tears from eyes)
    Microsoft supporting open standards. (snort) Now, that's funny!

    • You're missing something: they're using Microsoft's definition of "open". It's much like how Microsoft's definition of "innovate" really means "copy someone else's idea and add some proprietary crap to it, then claim it was our idea all along"; the MS definition of "open" means "open APIs to our closed and proprietary libraries and programming interfaces, so that you can be locked into our platform."

  • Do I get a refund (Score:3, Insightful)

    by sulli ( 195030 ) * on Monday February 14, 2005 @03:02PM (#11670207) Journal
    if I just keep the damn thing on vibrate all the time? I hate those )(@#&@!#@!#& ringtones.

  • Missing Sync (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Doc Ruby ( 173196 ) on Monday February 14, 2005 @03:03PM (#11670225) Homepage Journal
    Palm also licensed the MS ActiveSync (Outlook/Exchange protocol). Now Nokia. How does an open source project, like Open-Xchange [open-xchange.org], license a product like that? Beyond the legal issues of GPL on software that depends on a (very) proprietary license (which can be overcome by partitioning the licensed SW over IPC APIs), how does the project negotiate with MS, and be trusted to honor the agreement? How to pay? If this is all doable, what are we waiting for?
    • what about synce [sourceforge.net]?

      Did Nokia just get ripped off?

      • Re:Missing SynCE (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Doc Ruby ( 173196 )
        SynCE is a way to synchronize your WinCE device's native PIM databases with a Linux (or unixlike) computer. It does not let you sync, say, Evolution, to, say, MS Exchange. That's what the ActiveSync protocol lets you do. Even if SynCE was a GPL version of ActiveSync, MS frequently changes their protocols (eg. driving Samba developers insane); the license means the protocol updates will be shared with the licensee, while SynCE users can get left behind until a developer re-reverse engineers the protocols.
  • i stopped using nokia a long time ago because of their craptastic phones. maybe that's why microsoft struck a deal with them, now when the software crashed they can just blame nokia.

  • It's not just Microsoft doing this (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Buran ( 150348 ) on Monday February 14, 2005 @03:06PM (#11670283)
    ... and why doesn't the story reflect that? Motorola reportedly showed off their new iTunes-compatible phone today, too!

    The dirt on the Motorola E1060 - Engadget - www.engadget.com [engadget.com]
    • Jesus Christ, that's ugly. What on Earth was Apple thinking? Or is Motorola out to screw them again?
      • I'd like to know too! I was expecting something either silver or white... of course, like they say, we're not 100% sure that's the iPhone.

        Me, I'm getting a Treo when I buy my new phone (which will be real soon, as my current one is starting to mess up more, and it's old). I don't use my cellphone as a jukebox.

        BTW, I usually hate free(x) sigs, as my own sig, as of this posting, indicates, but yours made me laugh. Good work!
  • is if i could stream my Phone Music to my car stereo while it was on the car charger via radio waves.

  • Drivers and Drivers (Score:5, Funny)

    by Stanistani ( 808333 ) on Monday February 14, 2005 @03:08PM (#11670308) Homepage Journal
    *Press One to Download Drivers*
    Beeep
    *Press Two to sync device with server*
    Meeep
    *Look up to avoid crashing into large truck*
    Yaaaaaaagggh!
    *crunch*

  • Spywares (Score:3, Funny)

    by michelcultivo ( 524114 ) on Monday February 14, 2005 @03:10PM (#11670322) Journal
    When I go to download there will be that screen asking me to click on "Yes" to install the application? Yeah, that application signed by Verisign :)

  • The Meme to Propogate (Score:2, Interesting)

    by ewhac ( 5844 )

    Nokia recognized that phones are not exactly what you'd call "high-end audiophile" equipment. Further, there is a lot of downward price pressure on phone manufacturing costs (mostly from the service providers, whose heavy discounts on phone handsets are easily noticed on their books by Wall Street analysts). Hence, you're not likely to see quality audio coming out of a phone soon, since few organizations will be willing to pay the extra engineering and manufacturing costs to put that quality into the phon

    • But people care much more for popularity than for quality. They'd rather have the latest Britney Spears in DRMmed mono WMV than $unknown_band's latest in unencumbered 4-channel Ogg Vorbis. And they're not going to get the latest Britney Spears unless her record company trusts the format. Hence, not MP3, and not the evil open source Ogg Vorbis. I bet WMV is cheaper to licence than AAC.

    • Huh? I can accept criticism for DRM, for proprietariness, for lock-in marketing...but in fair bit-rate-for-bit-rate comparisons I've found WM video and audio to be pretty damn good. And why wouldn't it be? As far as I understand, it's only slightly modified MPEG-4.

      • See the message subject -- I am trying to propogate a meme. In this case, I am trying to build in the minds of readers an association between Windows Media and cheap, toy-like audio quality. If this association can successfully be built, it is considerably less likely that Windows Media will be considered for "serious" or "pro-sumer" audio applications.

        Or, to put it another way:
        MP3, Ogg Vorbis, AAC -- Technics, Denon, Onkyo
        Windows Media -- Radio Shack

        Schwab

        • Okay, if that is the course you have chosen, then so be it. But let's be honest what you're really talking about: FUD.

          I find the trend in this community towards an acceptance of blatant mischaracterization and spreading of falsehood to be troubling. This is a community founded on the principles of honestyl, openness, and respect. Are you really ready to sell out these ideals for market share?

          • We have been upstanding, forthright, honest, open, and respectful. And what has it gotten us? Embedded and desktop platform OEMs are brainlessly flocking to Microsoft's Windows Media and oppressive copy protection "solutions", even though they know that Microsoft is going to screw them. Again.

            The situation in the embedded space is considerably better than in desktop space -- nearly everyone in the embedded sector is studying or actively working on Linux solutions. But even people pursuing Linux are in

  • Nokia created Symbian to prevent Microsoft putting the windows tax on mobiles, so I can imagine that the licence must have been pretty cheap. Most people don't use MP3s anyways, so it's not exactly a killer feature.
  • The Portable DJ mod is going to be killer!

  • What will it do really well? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Perl-Pusher ( 555592 ) on Monday February 14, 2005 @03:26PM (#11670536)
    So they have a phone that can play windows media, does it do it well? For what purpose would I want this? My daughter has a phone that takes pictures, real crappy pictures. She's always using my digital camera, so she must think so too.

    My daughters and I have iPods, we connect them to our car stereos, the home stereo, manage it with our computer and I even use it to play music in between sets in my band. What advantage would there be having a cellphone play music? What happens if a call comes in while attached to my PA system? I'm sorry but I want device that does it's main function really well, not a bunch of mediocre features slapped together in a phone.

    • I agree, certainly with digital cameras that also play mp3s - thats just a stupid combo. But mobile phones are quickly becoming the modern urban Swiss army knife. they are so small, most people don't so much as take the rubbish out without theirs. They have already become most peoples' 3rd essential item, only your wallet and keys are more important when you're out and about and phones will probably replace those for some people quite soon.
    • I know these were probably rhetorical questions, but allow me to answer anyways...

      I'm going to the gym for an hour - I'm expecting a call, but can't delay my workout, and can't stand to listen to the drivel they play on the gym's stereo...I could bring two devices with me, or one...I'd prefer one. In this case if the phone was charged it would easily last the hour, I could get away with one device with me, and have solved my phonecall and music problem.

      The only problem I have with an integrated phone and
    • It is a lot easier to integrate decent WMA/MP3 playback into a device than it is to integrate decent camera functionality or even PDA functionality. Cameras are big (relatively speaking) - the smallest digital cameras make use of every last square millimeter to fit into their casings - and they are still bigger than many phones.

      MP3 players ... the size of a flash based MP3 player is based primarily on how big you need the buttons to be, how big the battery needs to be, and how big the earphone jack is. A

  • Thank you! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by pair-a-noyd ( 594371 ) on Monday February 14, 2005 @03:33PM (#11670608)
    Now I know which mobile phone NOT to buy when I ever do switch service.
    I wish someone would publish a list of the popular carriers, the models they sell and the OS the different models use.

  • Eric_Cartman_South_P continues to not buy Nokia phones.
  • Now I can get acoustic neuroma [cbsnews.com] run up my cell phone minutes, make Mr Gates even richer yet and hear my favorite songs reproduced with truely hideous sound quality while my hand and neck cramp up as I strain to use a device with the ergonomics of a brick. Whoopee for Billy ... won't make a nickle off of me. and my damn NOK is still 30% underwater.
    • COUGH
      erm.. im pretty sure it will have head-phones and the sound quality of any current mini mp3 player. But yes, the phone industry is about making obscene amounts of money off of your investment (comms equipment) without actually doing much.

      As long as it plays mp3's and connects directly to my PC i don't care.
      • You could be right about the sound quality if I am willing to add the cost of a good headset to what I have already paid but my basic cell service where I live is a crappy connection...the downloads would have to add a good protocol layer to fend off dropped packets [I mean it IS digital right? I shoulda RTFA but the whole idea is patently rediculous to an old fogey like me] Also, as others have mentioned, trying to turn my cell phone into an ipod is going to either kill the battery, cause me to wear an out
  • Say what you want, but seriously, nothing beats WMA on quality for really tiny files. Which is what I imagine you tend to put on these phones, given how little storage they have. Seriously, try getting a 3-minute song down to 1mb with any other codec and see if it's still listenable. Because with wma it is - just, but it is.
    • How about a 5;33 second clip down to 1.9 megs.

      Source: Massive Attack - Teardrop [kennesaw.edu]

      AAC(with .mov wrapper): Massive Attack - Teardrop [kennesaw.edu]

      The song is more than listenable, I had both playing simultaneous and switched between the streams, I could tell very little difference.

      If someone is dying for a Real Audio version... :-P

      Oh, if you like that song, Mezzanine by Massive Attack is a wonderful album, Available here [apple.com]
    • Say what you want, but seriously, nothing beats WMA on quality for really tiny files.

      Do you have any evidence to back that up? Here's some evidence to the contrary - a public listening test [rjamorim.com] that put Nero HE-AAC at the top of the pile at such low bitrates, followed by MP3Pro.

  • WMP10 is for PC - NOT phone (Score:5, Informative)

    by 4r0g ( 467711 ) on Monday February 14, 2005 @04:03PM (#11670988)
    The reuters story isn't really in line with the actual press [nokia.com] releases [microsoft.com].

    It does not say that Nokia is licensing Windows Media Player for phones, rather the technologies underneath, such as WMA, for achieving better interoperability with the PC. WMP10 is used as the PC frontend for the music solution they just launched.

    There's going to be "support for Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) digital rights management and the MPEG Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) family of codecs in Windows Media Player via a plug-in" too to support the service.

  • Finally Activesync for nokia! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by wfberg ( 24378 ) on Monday February 14, 2005 @04:21PM (#11671158)
    Finally Activesync for nokia! Because with the nokia suite they have now, you can sync with outlook, outlook express, lotus notes, even stuff like defunct netscape calendar, or CSV files. But with activesync, it's outlook-only all the way baby! Way to go!
    • You forgot iCal or any other syncMl compliant software.

      I got a pocket PC and tried to read my email from an imap server using outlook and it'd insist on downloading all headers and taking forever, then crash (ok, I should trim my 4000 msg inbox down)

      The mail app on Sybian is pretty damn good.

      Hate to see Nokia abandon all of that.

  • I switched from MP3 and AAC to WMA after conducting extensive personal double-blind listening tests.

    WMA is clearly superior for classical and Jazz recordings at low and high bitrates. I also like the choice I get with on-line music providers, and the fact that there are at least 40 commercial WMA players on the market, not to mention about 50% of the newest DVD players on the market play WMA audio files.

    I applaud Nokia for making such a sound choice.

  • ...Okay I am being serious here- not trying to flame, or troll.
    But why do people need cell phones? Admittedly I have owned a couple in my day, and worked for a major cellphone network-- but I still fail to see the real purpose of them.
    Typically I make plans, people call me- leave a message on my answering machine and we do something-- do you really need to be on call for 24 hours a day?
    I understand business using them, I understand using them for fear of something happening while driving. But they
    • My own personal reasons: 1. Convenience. Being reachable at the same number, wherever you are. Being able to reach another person when the need arises (e.g, "I forgot what you said you wanted at the store," "I'm lost, can you look at a map and tell me where I am," "I'm drunk and I need a ride home," "I'm stuck in traffic and I'll be a half-hour late." Eliminating those times when you can't leave the house because you are waiting for someone to call. 2. Safety. It is said that the most powerful weapon
  • As part of the companies' joint announcement today, Nokia and Real officially communicated that Nokia has both licensed the latest Helix DNA Client code base and has officially joined the Helix Community.

    https://helixcommunity.org/forum/forum.php?forum_i d=325 [helixcommunity.org]

    Let me add one thing myself. Realplayer actually works in my 2mb ram Nokia 7650.

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