Motorola Announces E1060 Phone With iTunes Support 268
amichalo writes "Topping today's earlier news that Nokia and MS are collaborating on digital music in a cell phone, Motorola announced the E1060, a cell phone available Q4 2005 that supports MPEG-4/WMV/WMA/MP3 formats. Interestingly, Motorola is not locking themselves into Apple's iTunes, but also support Real Player. Reuters has more."
Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why can't I have a phone that just works as a phone... and an Mp3 player that just plays music, nothing else? I thought apple was going in the right direction with the shuffle... it's small, and does just one thing... play music... is that too much to ask of phones?
Keyboard? (Score:4, Insightful)
Another... (Score:3, Insightful)
'bout time (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
Mod parent up!! -- this might be "News for Nerds. Stuff that matters." but the main thing we nerds want is STUFF THAT WORKS.
The best example of the converged device that STILL isn't worth a damn is the all-in-one printer which faxes, scans, copies, and prints... not a one of those does it do well. Oh, and by the way, with phones you have the added problem of low price, battery life, portability, and god forbid, if I lose the damn thing I don't want the be SOL because all the stuff I use (mp3 players, PDA, phone, etc.) is missing.
As usual, the manufacturers have created a solution without a problem. I have yet to hear somone at the gym say "Boy, I'd sure like my music player ring and have all my calendar/contact information as well". These things are a solution looking for a problem
Re:Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
I think a media player / camera / phone isn't a bad idea... if it were done properly. And no one has really done it properly... yet.
Re:Why? (Score:2, Insightful)
It even has a USB port if you want to hack it. It does not, however, have a substantial PDA (basic phone book and datebook), have a camera, play MP3s (as far as I could tell), or do any other fancy stuff.
Nobody's forcing you to buy a camera phone. And if the v180 is too ritzy for you, T-Mobile offers a Nokia 6010 [nokiausa.com] for even less money.
You can get a phone with no features if you really want. Quit this "I just want a phone that makes phone calls" bitching.
Re:iPod Killer (Score:3, Insightful)
This phone is useful to me because I usually have a cell phone, while my iPod is mainly for my drive into work and while at work. To have a 5 hours worth of music with me at all times would really make the time I spend waiting in line, at appointments, etc, move faster. You can't always carry an iPod, even a Shuffle, but you can usually have your phone with you.
Re:Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
I thought this was Slashdot, a gatehring of people excited about new technology. Why do we mod up people who want to live in the past?
Where's my OGG support? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Another... (Score:5, Insightful)
/.'s ability to predict the next hot consumer toy is nothing I'd bet the farm on... ;-)
Oh no! (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously though, I'm not the only one who WANTS to see the day where we have a phone, iPod, and PDA all in one device... right? Sure, bring on the "jack-of-all-trades master-of-none" arguement... but carrying around one device that does it all is better than having multiple gadgets. So what if the current creations need a little more R&D... it's not like basic phones can't be purchased anymore.
You aren't looking at the problem right (Score:5, Insightful)
Frankly, I'm going to spend the money on the phone, and I like having a portable entertainment and workstation on my hip at all times, which is what it is. I can take care of simple work tasks just from that phone, and i can entertain myself very easily while waiting or traveling. The Mp3 player doesn't store that many songs and i need a memory card, but hell I don't carry with me that many Mp3s! I'm never going to fill up a 10,000 song player... or even a 1,000 song one.
Just because you don't want one doesn't mean other people don't. So far the only thing I don't like about those phones are the cameras. Everything else does in fact work great.
Re: Keeping the quarterly numbers up (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Why? (Score:3, Insightful)
And this would be the point of the discussion, from my POV.
Where is the phone that can stand on it's own and say
"I am a kickass phone, I get better reception that the cheap alternatives to the model containing a spare kitchen sink, my batteries last 3 months on standby or 48 hours of talk. I was designed to be a better phone, not a better way to carry eight devices in your pocket ! "
Re:Why? (Score:2, Insightful)
If variety is good for the software market, as the saying goes here on /., and innovation is good, Then why is the same not good for the phone market? I see people getting really uptight when phone manufacturers try new things. Seems a little conservative to me.
Ridiculous (Score:3, Insightful)
If it is currently expected in Q4 2005, that means 50% it will be cancelled before it comes out, and 50% chance it will ship 6 months late. EVen if it does ship on time, announcing it today doesn't make much sense (it guess it makes pr sense, but not practical sense).
Re:Hint: (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh no, wait, it sells like hot cakes.
And, of course, you can record phone calls and ambient noise (that's called "dictaphone") with it. And I, for one, find it a lot more easy to deal with the management of only one battery.
I don't get your point with regards to pausing the mp3 during a phonecall - I guess that's a feature that shows why convergence is good: if I receive (or make) a call, the mp3 is automatically paused and resumed after the call.
Before You Say 'Another Useless Gadget'... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: Keeping the quarterly numbers up (Score:5, Insightful)
I want a big one.
Nobody makes a phone big enough for me anymore. i want a phone that extends from my ear to my mouth, and can rest comfortably on my shoulder. I'm not interested in putting it in my pocket, I'll clip it to my belt, thanks. But I'm sick of small telephones.
Oh, and one more little feature that I want - GOOD VOICE QUALITY. I can almost live without big for that one.
Re:You aren't looking at the problem right (Score:3, Insightful)
That's why I'm waiting for Apple to develop a cell phone. It'll be sleek, elegant, easy to use and cost only half my salary.
answering machine (Score:2, Insightful)
what i want is a mobile phone with a built in digital answering machine, similar to what you can get for under $50 for a land line....or even better, use a 128+MB flash "disk" and mp3 or ogg to encode the recorded messages
i suspect that i'll never see one, though, because telcos are the biggest customers for mobile phone manufacturers, and telcos definitely do not want to lose the revenue stream that they get for charging by the minute for people to retrieve their voice mail.
i resent paying those fees, and i certainly do not want MY messages stored on THEIR systems - i want them on MY machine.