Another day, another iTunes killer. Seriously, this is getting really tedious to write about. I mean, yes, we all like competition around here, but when your main competitor has such a huge lead, it’s pretty damned near impossible to catch up. (Ask Apple about its OS marketshare.) Nokia, we get it, you sell phones. A lot of them. Playing catchup for music is going to be pretty goshed darn difficult. But props for trying?
But anyway, here’s the news: Nokia is launching a “Comes with Music” phone, also known as the Nokia 5310 Xpress Comes with Music [quite a mouthful, innit? -DM] edition. In the UK, megaretailer Carphone Warehouse has the exclusive rights to sell the handset. We’re assuming that it will soon become available in most other markets later in the year and into 2009.
The idea is that if you get this phone, you can download as much music as you want (of the 2.1 mil available tracks) legally onto your phone. Further, if after a year you decide you don’t want the phone, you can transfer the tracks to another phone (or your PC) without a hitch.
It’s a little bit unclear how much this N5310XCwMe will cost, nor exactly when. The Beeb reports that “more info” will be available on October 2, while The Times of London says that the phone will go on sale, for rizzle, on that same date:So far Nokia has not succeeded in bringing a UK operator on board to subsidise the phone, which will mean that when it goes on sale on October 2, it will probably only be available on pay as you go, and could cost upwards of £300.
Good luck, chaps.
