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More on Apple/Motorola Joint Cell Phone Venture
1+(smarterThanYou) writes "Forbes.com has an article with updates on the previous Slashdot story on the Motorola/Apple iTunes compatible mobile phone.
'Apple Computer and Motorola could soon show us the mobile phone they are developing to play music purchased from Apple's iTunes online music store.
'We've said we have something coming on this in the first half of 2005 and we're definitely on schedule for that. Hopefully you'll be able to see more about it soon,' says Eddy Cue, vice president in charge of applications at Apple.'" Theories about this device showing up at the next MacWorld Expo abound.
Could this phone be the rumoured flash-based iPod?
it seems that this phone + mp3 player might be the convergence of the "flash based" ipod and the apple/motorola venture. Mac heads gotta have their lifeblood flowing...rumors...mmmm
So many things are becoming an addition to the mobile phone, and different groups teaming up to cover their core areas. Obviously Sony are placed fairly well at the moment with their audio, imaging, comms and gaming devices. Who else will team up to compete?
Personally, I'd love to see the Nintendo technologies meshed with Apple and Motorola. To me both Apple and Nintendo, lean towards highly usable, simple technology with high build quality.
Who else is next?
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Glen Williams
Hm...it doesn't look like they'll be able to use the name iPhone...Nuvio's got it locked up:
http://www.iphone.com/
How about Apple and Motorola produce a phone that fully synchronizes with iSync for all the productivity items like contacts and calendars? The only folks that make such devices are Nokia and Siemens. I want everything down to the photo on the Address Book entry... plus decent enough e-mail for getting warning messages from the servers.
http://treomac.com/v-web/portal/cms/modules.php?na me=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=32
I can throw a little more gas onto the Apple phone rumors. I was on a train this weekend, watching an episode of the Simpsons on my Treo600. The gentleman sitting across from me asked me how I liked the phone. I told him I loved it and we began a tech conversation. He mentioned that he worked for Motorola. I told him I was a Macintosh consultant, and then he dropped the bomb! "I've got a scoop for you", he teased.
Apparently some of his associates had been telling him earlier in the week about an Apple branded phone that had been circulating around the office at Motorola. The phone had Motorola components, but most certainly had Apple brandings on it. He said that he did not have a chance to handle the phone, but that his direct supervisor did. The phone was "sleek and sexy" in her words. He mentioned that there was talk amongst the people who had seen it that itunes and iphoto would factor into this device somehow. They also said that the phone had a slot on the top (media slot?) as well as what looked to be a usb 2.0 port on the bottom.
All very interesting. He gave me his card, so I'll be sure to press him for more details in the coming weeks.
Stay Tuned!
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Tony Ricciardi
Administrator
TreoMac.com
Also, from another source:
It's basically the successor to the Motorola E398, but with iTunes, and extensive Apple influence and iPod integration. I haven't seen it yet, but my info is direct from Moto top people.
The current Motorola E398 was a tri-band GSM bar form factor phone, with a large screen, TransFlash slot, Bluetooth, camera, media player, speakerphone, and FM tuner. And since this offering is GSM, and Steve Jobs has twice trotted out Cingular CEO Stephen Carter at Macworld keynotes, and given other carriers' resistance to the idea of iTunes on a phone (for reasons of either not wanting to provide bandwidth for such a service at a reasonable cost, OR being opposed to having full computer/device connectivity via Bluetooth bypassing their networks), it would appear that Cingular/AT&T might be a good candidate to carry such a device.
And for all those who think that Motorola phones suck OR are only basing your opinion on NEXTEL phones, trust me: they've gotten a LOT better, and actually have some excellent offerings (e.g., RAZR V3 and v710, Verizon crippling aside).