Rokr like a hurricane...

Apple unveils iPod phone hybrid

As expected Apple has unveiled a gadget that combines its hugely popular iPod music player with a mobile phone.

Announced by Apple boss Steve Jobs the device will be able to store about 100 songs and play them out randomly like the iPod Shuffle.

Developed by Motorola for Apple the gadget, dubbed Rokr, will first be available on the network of US mobile operator Cingular.

Since it was introduced in 2001, Apple has sold more than 21 million iPods.

Mobile music

The colour-screen gadget is silver, has stereo speakers and has a VGA quality camera onboard.

A version of Apple's iTunes music store has been developed for the phone so users can manage the tracks they store on it. Smart software on the handset pauses music if a phone call comes in.

Tunes are downloaded to it via a USB cable and users can fill it manually or use autofill to populate it with pop. The gadget is due to go on sale in Cingular stores from 8 September and is expected to cost $249.99 (£136). Buyers must commit to a two-year contract.


The Rokr phone is expected to be available in the UK and Europe in late September.
At the time of the announcement there was no information about whether music can be downloaded only via a cable or via the airwaves as well.

Madonna is reportedly fronting the publicity campaign to advertise the phone. In a related announcement all Madonna's music is now available on the iTunes store.

As well as showing off the Rokr phone, Mr Jobs unveiled a new version of iTunes and a smaller version of the music player called the iPod nano.

Long wait

Plans for the Rokr gadget were first unveiled in July 2004 and it was originally scheduled to be unveiled at the Cebit technology fair in Hanover, Germany in March 2005.

Big hints that the phone was going to be unveiled on 7 September were given by the fact that Apple, Motorola and Cingular all planned press conferences for that day.

Apple is keen to replicate the success it has had with the music-only iPod sales of which, in recent quarters, has been responsible for the biggest share of its profits.

However, the ultimate success of the device may rest on factors that Apple cannot control.

For instance, it is likely that owners will only use them to play music downloaded into the gadget from a computer.

This is because most mobile operators charge by the megabyte so downloading a track while out and about would add a premium that most would be unwilling to pay.

It might take time for mobile operators to change data pricing regimes which would help to convince consumers that downloading is worth it.

Download charges are likely to be one of the few ways that phone firms can recoup some cash from selling iTunes phones. Most of the money paid to buy songs from iTunes goes to record labels, Apple and payment processing firms.

The time it takes to download a song might affect the popularity of such services. Most Europeans and Americans are on phone networks that shunt data around at a theoretical maximum speed of 170 kilobits per second. Actual rates are much lower which would make downloading a multi-megabyte song a trying experience.

Without good deals on downloading, Apple may find it hard to convince existing users of iPods to buy another gadget. And with the iPod proving so popular entirely new customers may be scarce too.

Also Apple is coming slightly late to the market for music on mobiles. Many other handset makers and operators are already pushing services that combine the two.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/4223938.stm

Published: 2005/09/07 18:50:06 GMT

And This: http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/

Take everything you love about iPod and shrink it. Now shrink it again. With 2GB (500 songs) and 4GB (1,000 songs) models starting at $199, the pencil-thin iPod nano packs the entire iPod experience into an impossibly small design. So small, it will take your music places you never dreamed of.

Believe Your Ears

Call it astonishing. Unbelievable. Impossible, even. Then pick it up and hold it in your hand. Take in the brilliant color display. Run your thumb around the Click Wheel. Put on the earbuds and turn up your music. Thatâ??s when everything becomes clear: Itâ??s an iPod.

It holds up to three daysâ?? worth of music. It plays for up to 14 hours between battery charges.(1) It displays the color album art for the song youâ??re listening to right now. It carries your photos, podcasts and audiobooks. It syncs seamlessly with iTunes. It connects to a host of iPod accessories. Simply put, iPod nano is 100-percent iPod. And then some.

Touch and Go

iPod nanoâ??s Click Wheel puts music under your thumb. Click to fast-forward, rewind, play, pause or access menus. Use the touch-sensitive surface to control volume or browse music. You can do it all without looking. But with an iPod this beautiful, whoâ??d want to?

Song Stylings

Add accessories to your iPod nano via the Dock connector and headphone jack and your music will always keep up with you â?? at home, on the go, even in your car. Of course, in either signature white or sleek black, iPod nano itself makes the ultimate accessory.

Up to 4GB(2) of skip-free storage on a featherweight iPod means you can wear almost three daysâ?? worth of music around your neck. Or jog with 1,000 songs on your arm. Now that you can take your music everywhere, thereâ??s no limit to where it will take you.

<img src="http://www.harrywalker.com/photos/Roker_Al.jpg" alt=" - " /> <img src="http://jengis1.blogspot.com/al%20roker.jpg" alt=" - " />

no more mini's on the web page. . are they not gonna sell them anymore??

Originally posted by vansmack:
iPod nano

this looks interesting … if god forbid i lost or broke my ipod, i think i would go for a lower capacity … i usually just end up listening to the intuitive "radio stations" that i've set up anyway, and they're never more than 500 songs or so, i could just store a few of the stations on one of these …

Itâ??s official: ROKR E1 iTunes phone can only store max. 100 tracks

Motorola and Apple were masterfully oblique about this during yesterdayâ??s press conference, and oddly enough thereâ??s zero mention of the issue at all in any of the press releases weâ??ve seen, but we double checked with Motorola last night and got them to officially confirm that no matter big of a memory card you have, you can only transfer a maximum of 100 tracks to the new ROKR E1 iTunes phone. Our sources at Moto tell us that Apple had originally insisted on a completely ridiculous 25 song cap because of â??licensing issuesâ?, and that the current 100 song limit was the compromise number they settled on. We prodded Motorola CEO Ed Zander about this at last nightâ??s launch event and his response was simply, â??Ask Apple.â? Ironically, the ROKR E1 has a generic, non-iTunes, Java-based media player that can play as many MP3s as you have room for on your card.

Originally posted by Chip Chanko:
Itâ??s official: ROKR E1 iTunes phone can only store max. 100 tracks

if you get smart about your playlists and hook your phone in every day to update, you should definitely be able to deal with 100 songs … on my average commute (both ways) i listen to maybe 25-30

nano looks pretty awesome. if i ever get an ipod, that would be the one. don't know about the phone, but i guess that's the next step

Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:
if you get smart about your playlists and hook your phone in every day to update, you should definitely be able to deal with 100 songs … on my average commute (both ways) i listen to maybe 25-30

do you only listen on your commute? so 50 to 60 songs a day? an ipod hardly seems worth it then

oh and is the nano flash based? as in, would it work well for jogging and such

When I metro I listen to about an album and a half round trip…and I like having many to choose from. Although, if you own and ipod then there aren't many times you would care if you had to carry it AND your phone. I have an ipod and a Nokia 6230b with a 2gb mmc card in it (about 30 albums). I would only use the phone's music player when I'm going out somewhere that I didn't want to carry my bag that always has my ipod in it, which is not very often. So 100 songs that sync's with your pc is not that bad a deal. The java media player in my phone is really annoying compared to the ipod interface but it works.

Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:

Originally posted by Chip Chanko:
Itâ??s official: ROKR E1 iTunes phone can only store max. 100 tracks

if you get smart about your playlists and hook your phone in every day to update, you should definitely be able to deal with 100 songs … on my average commute (both ways) i listen to maybe 25-30

yes…it would work really well.

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
oh and is the nano flash based? as in, would it work well for jogging and such

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
oh and is the nano flash based? as in, would it work well for jogging and such

It is flash, yes.

Originally posted by p011@rd:
do you only listen on your commute? so 50 to 60 songs a day? an ipod hardly seems worth it then

exactly … well, i do bring my ipod along when i go on vacation, to friends houses, etc, so there are definitely times when i like a bigger capacity

but lately i've found myself only listening to these intuitive radio stations i've set up (specific rules about genre + hasn't been played in two months + 4 stars or better + under 7:01), so i could just theoretically just have a little flash based player for it

if you struggle to think of what you want to listen to or create good playlists, i highly recommend doing a smart playlist like that, it cycles music in that you've rated highly but haven't heard in a while, and you never hear the same thing twice in any two month period

fuck yes. might have to start saving my pennies

Does anyone have a recommendation for good jogging headphones?

The standard iPod earbuds suck, and I've gone through two pairs of those Sony earbuds (MX71 and MX81). Both crapped out during long run with them.

Originally posted by Chip Chanko:
Itâ??s official: ROKR E1 iTunes phone can only store max. 100 tracks

I think the battery life should be your main concern. The typical iPod battery is at best 8 hours, but the talk time of a cell phone is usually 3-5 hours (24-48 hours on standby).

I think you'd cut your listening time way down if you knew that you wouldn't be able to use your cell phone when you finished your commute.

If I may, I'd like to be the first to predict that these two companies will eventually merge or the loser in these battles will be subject to a hostile takeover….

<img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2005/09/09/business/sony.span.jpg" alt=" - " />

September 9, 2005
Sony Takes On Apple IPod by Offering New Walkman
By REUTERS

TOKYO, Sept. 8 (Reuters) - Sony said Thursday that it would sell advanced Walkman portable music players this year, aiming to move out of Apple Computer's shadow in a market that Sony created a quarter of a century ago.

The announcement came hours after Apple introduced the pencil-thin iPod nano digital player and a long-anticipated mobile phone that plays music in a bid to extend its domination of the market.

"We are not at all satisfied with where we are now," said Koichiro Tsujino, co-president of Connect, a Sony unit that makes portable music players and offers online music distribution services.

"I understand a certain company made an announcement earlier today," he added at a news conference. "We will accelerate our challenge with these new models."

Sony, which created the portable music market with its cassette-playing Walkmans, has lost out to Apple in the portable digital era as it focused on its mainstay CD and Mini Disc players.

Sony will offer two music players based on hard disks - one with a storage capacity of 20 gigabytes and the other with 6 gigabytes - and three flash- memory-based players that will keep the existing models' perfume bottle appearance.

The 6-gigabyte model is Sony's first hard-disk player with a small capacity. Apple's iPod nano comes in 2- and 4-gigabyte capacities.

Sony's new models will add the ability to select and play the songs a user listens to most, and also to pick songs released in a certain year - a function Sony calls the "time machine shuffle."

The models will go on sale in Japan on Nov. 19 and overseas by the end of the year.

The 20-gigabyte hard-disk model, able to store up to 13,000 songs, is expected to be priced around $320 in Japan, Sony said.

Sony aims to sell 4.5 million hard-disk and flash-memory portable music players in the year to next March, up from 850,000 a year earlier.

Apple has sold about 22 million iPods worldwide in four years.

Originally posted by vansmack:
If I may, I'd like to be the first to predict that these two companies will eventually merge or the loser in these battles will be subject to a hostile takeover….

There has been talk of that for years, especially pre-imac whan apple was on its downers. Right now Sony seems to be the least competent company on the face of the planet. I do not see why apple would want them. Oh and apple has about $4 billion in cash, so I guess it will be alright for a while.

Oh and those sony players are dead ugly.

Originally posted by MTB-Markie:
Oh and those sony players are dead ugly.

The majority of mp3 players I've seen are hideous. Did Apple take copyrights out on all attractive design? What the hell are these other companies thinking?