Nokia phone to be feature-heavy but iTunes-free

Still, companies such as Apple could easily produce programs allowing the handsets to use their music services, the phone giant says.

The story "Nokia phone to be feature-heavy but iTunes-free" published August 18, 2005 at 6:25 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

Content from Reuters expires after 30 days.

mp3 player on my phone why?

I'm not sure what there is this trend in the cellphone market to make the thing into a media player!

Tell me, why would I want to watch TV or movies on a cellphone? The screen is tiny, and the sound quality is horrible. Not to mention cellphones still have issues with battery life.

But honestly, why do these companies think that we need all this bloat on a simple cell? I just want my phone to do a few things. Make and take calls, take simply photos, and access email. That's all I need.

Is the market really pushing for all this stuff, because I ask around and people seem to stay on the track I listed above.

[shadowself]

What I really want...

is a mobile phone that is
a. smaller/lighter than the Motorola RAZR V3;
b. has a minimum of 6 hours talk time _and_ 24 hours standby off of a single charge (with the standard size battery)
c. has better reception than any current phone I have tested (the current ones are typically better than those of 5 years ago, but I still get dropped calls *FAR* too often)
and
d. is rugged enough so that if I drop it onto a concrete floor from head height I don't have to replace it (it might be dinged up a bit but it is still functional).

I don't care about a camera at all. (I can't take a camera based phone [or one that has *ANY* recording capability -- even voice recording] to 90% of the places where I have to work.)

I don't care about a calendar or email function at all. When I'm on the move I check my calendar at the beginning of the day as well as email then recheck at the end of the day. When I'm in the office the functions are redundant anyway.

However....
If I could get something with GREAT reception capability with *ALL* the capabilites (shown and implied) of the "global" in the old scifi show "Earth, Final Conflict" then I might reconsider. The colapsed size is stil a bit large for my desires, but if they could get the colapsed size down a bit and still deliver all the capabilities shown (and implied) by the "global" in that show then I might jump on the "do anything and everything" mobile phone bandwagon.

[t8]

Simplicity

Why carry around a phone and an MP3 player, when it can be an all in 1 device.
The size of the device doesn't affect the sound because you are using headphones not speakers. The sound quality is determined by the compression of the audio files themselves.

At the moment I carry around a Cellphone and an MP3 player/memory stick. If it was 1 device, that would suit me better. The Memory stick/MP3 player is very small, yet the sound is very good with headphones. As good as any MP3 player. If I could shrink my phone by 33% and mould the MP3 player on, I would.

Same could be said for TV in the future. If you have a decent pair of glassess/visor, then you could watch fullscreen 6 foot by 6 foot TV and video. But we will have to wait a few years for that one.

[Andrew J Glina]

Less to carry

I use my Treo and a 1GB SD card for playing MP3s on the go. (I use my own software to fill it with music.) It is much easier to just have one device to carry.

What I want is a Treo with a HD. Ahhh, heaven.

[shadowself]

Headlines misleading

The headlines leading to this story are grossly misleading. They imply Nokia has said they will not carry iTunes or be able to play iTunes provided music.

The facts are
1) a couple executives have publicly stated they have seen a phone within Nokia playing iTunes music;
2) the N91 phone supports the AAC upon which iTunes is based; and
3) Nokia has officially stated it currently has no contractual agreement with Apple to provide an iTunes capable phone.

What is NOT know is if Apple is working with Nokia with regard to the phone seen by those executives or if Apple and Nokia are (or are not) in discussions about an iTunes phone.

Will Nokia be shipping an iTunes capable phone by Christmas? There is not enough information to know. The editors of c|net writing headlines sure want their readers to think this will never happen. However, my guess is they have no more information about what is real or not any more than the rest of us.

[M C]

So now Cnet randomly asks if a phone will have iTunes?

Or did everyone in the world EXCEPT the "reporter" know that it would be the case?

Seriously, this site's reporting gets worse by the day. Lay off the cheap keyword hits and start covering stuff people really care about.

[PCCRomeo]

Good, it'd be a waste...

I do not want a phone with iTunes, that's why I have a PC.

[Filip Remplakowski]

and tell us...

why should we care?