Mobile Digest

Will the iPhone do for mobile music what iTunes did for online music?

Media analyst Screen Digest has completed some interesting research into the global market for over-the-air (OTA) mobile music downloads, as well as speculating on what impact the iPhone may have on this market.

By the end of 2006, the global market for OTA mobile music was worth around £113m, most of which was generated by single track downloads in the US. The global online music download market was worth around £636m.

By 2012, Screen Digest forecast the global mobile music market will be worth over £1bn, the vast majority thanks to consumers in Japan and South Korea. The reasoning for this is primarily due to vastly superior mobile networks in those countries than European and US citizens have the luxury of. For this reason, Western consumers prefer to download music onto their PCs over higher speed broadband connections, and then synchronise with their music devices / phones.

Screen Digest forecast that subscription-based music services will emerge over the next three years, and account for two-thirds of total mobile music revenues worldwide by 2012. Something that Steve Jobs may want to take note of, as he has hinted at being interested in subscription music services, while saying Apple won't launch such a service at other times.

Screen Digest digital music specialist Dan Cryan says: “This is a really exciting time for mobile music and industry players are jostling to enter a rapidly growing market with the right products and business models. On the one hand we have Apple’s iPhone, the first generation of which doesn’t lend itself it to over-the-air music downloads."

I'd question his belief that the first generation iPhone doesn't lend itself to OTA music downloads. Though it's likely that most people, particularly on slower mobile networks in the US, will upload music to their iPhone via iTunes on their Mac or PC (as per iPod) the inbuilt Wi-Fi—plus the possibility of a 3G international version of the iPhone—means that OTA downloading of tracks straight to the iPhone should easily be possible with a tweaked version of iTunes.

With many predicting that the iPhone will revolutionise the mobile industry, could it do for mobile music what iTunes has done for online music?

Ironically, it will be iTunes that underpins music on the iPhone, so in reality it will be the software that needs to change to facilitate a successful iPhone experience.

Will Apple listen to a potential wave of new customers, perhaps including a number who haven't used iTunes before?

Will the lure of a piece of the potentially lucrative subscription-based music download service tempt Jobs (or any successor) to offer such a service to iPhone/iPod users?

Only time will tell, but it's in the area of portable music devices and accompanying software that Apple has, arguably, made its biggest mark amongst general consumers. Apple likes to set trends. How will the iPhone shape mobile music, or will mobile music shape future generations of iPhone?

First iPhone camera images spotted online

Pictures claiming to have been taken on Apple's forthcoming iPhone have tipped up on the internet.

The image, showing a man tucking into some jam on toast, was spotted by Mobile Guerilla, after constantly typing "taken with an apple iphone" into Google for over a month.

The pics were found on a Flickr account, and the EXIF data showed that device used was: "Camera: Apple iPhone". The images have since been removed.

Of course, it's not that difficult to fake EXIF info so it could just be a cunning ruse.

More: Mobile Guerilla

Review: Sony Ericsson W200i - Walkman phone for everyone

The propaganda

Not everyone wants - or indeed needs - a super phone in their pocket, loaded with features and raring to satisfy any and every multimedia whim at a moment's notice.

Some just want a decent enough camera, a bit of music and the ability to talk and text their friends. Nothing more complex or overblown than that. For that sort of person, the Sony Ericsson W200i will more than suffice.

The good

The W200i is a good, solid phone, first and foremost. It's got enough features to keep you occupied without bundling in so much technology that it pushes you into forking out a massive amount each month to get one free on contract.

Camera snaps are good enough to share with your mates and there's a built-in Walkman music player. The bundled headphones are basic, but you can plug your own into the 3.5mm jack on the hands free kit. The inclusion of a 128MB Memory Stick Micro card in a phone aimed at this market is fairly generous.

The bad

There's no escaping the fact that W200i has a rather utilitarian design. It's solid and sensible, but it's not going to win any design awards. While it's quite small front on, it's a bit thick which makes it feel a somewhat bulky.

The navigation joystick is recessed a little too much, making it difficult to move around menus. The screen stretches to 1.8in and the low resolution of 128x160 pixels feels a little cramped at times.

There's also no Bluetooth, which feels positively antiquated, with wireless communication left to good old infrared instead.

Geek Sheet

Connectivity: 900/1800/1900MHz GSM, USB, infrared

Internal memory: 27MB, 256MB MemoryStick Micro

Display: 1.8in, 128x160 pixels

Camera: 0.3 megapixel

POP3 email client

Battery: 7 hours talk time, 300 hours standby

Dimensions: 44x101x18 mm

Overview

Free phones on contract are great - but if you're not in a position to take one out you may find your handset choice more limited. If you're shopping for a Pay As You Go phone, or need a replacement handset without any ties then the W200i is a reasonable option. It doesn't have all the whizbang features you'll find from the latest models, but with a price tag of around £60 on PAYG it's considerably more affordable too.

Related sites: Sony Ericsson W200i

Shiny Video Review: Nokia 6300

Susi examines the Nokia 6300 and reports back for Tech Digest on this simple, straightforward but fairly limited phone.

Nokia

Nokia N76 - now with added Travis

When Nokia says it has teamed up with "one of the UK's most influential bands", I'm guessing not many of you out there would think of Travis. Well amazingly, that's who they mean.

Nokia has done a deal with Sony BMG to throw in five Travis tracks for anyone buying the N76. But it's typically not that simple - it's in the form of a voucher, you don't get to choose the tracks and you have to download from the MSN music shop. Surely pre-installing isn't that hard? At least you will get the band's new single, plus four other tracks from the band's back catalogue.

According to Tapio Hedman, senior vice-president Multimedia, Nokia and probably without his tongue in his cheek: "We're very excited about being able to offer music from Travis, a genuinely thought provoking and inspirational band, for mobile enjoyment with the Nokia N76. This compelling offer confirms the commitment Nokia Nseries has to music and developing devices that match the lifestyles of consumers"

The N76 can hold up to 1500 tracks and supports Windows DRM tunes.

See the full N76 specification

Samsung's SGH-i400 heads to Europe

Samsung has unveiled another smartphone - the SGH-i400 - which should debut in Europe sometime in late summer.

It's a slider handset, using the Symbian S60 operating system. Details confirmed so far include a two megapixel camera, dedicated MP3 keys, stereo speakers, A2DP Bluetooth, MicroSD slot and full web browsing courtesy of the 2.3-inch screen.

No word on connectivity as yet, but we do know it will make its debut in Russia in July, with Europe following soon after.

Samsung website

Via Engadget

Mobile phones cause forgetfulness

Here's a quick challenge for you - try and remember five numbers that are stored in your mobile phone. Tricky isn't it? If you're finding it a challenge, you're not alone.

Over two thirds of the UK mobile phone users - 69 percent - were unable to recall five numbers from their phone memory in a recent survey.

With thefts of mobile phones accounting for 40 percent of robberies and only four out of ten people backing up their contacts it's a bit of a recipe for disaster.

But all is not lost - ZYB is touting an online back up service that works with most phones and any UK network. You need to store you numbers on the phone memory, not the SIM, then sign up at the website and follow the instructions.

Given that on average we store 80 numbers in our phones, it's probably worth doing something about it sooner, rather than later.

LG KS10 - Google-packed slider phone

LG recently announced a tie-in with Google, offering pre-loaded Google Maps, Gmail, and Blogger mobile applications with selected new handsets. And it looks like the first of these is the LG KS10.

It's a slim slider phone with HSDPA connectivity and a Symbian operating system. Other features include a 2.4-inch LCD screen, two megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, multimedia playback and a microSD slot.

LG says this will get its debut in April in Italy, with a launch through the rest of Europe before the end of the year.

LG website

Via Engadget

Review: ZyXEL v660 - mobile and VoIP hybrid phone

The propaganda

VoIP may be great for keeping calling costs down - but it does mean you're shackled to your PC by a headset, which doesn't lend itself to long conversations.

ZyXEL is hoping to change all that with the V660 phone which combines a normal mobile with Wi-Fi and VoIP functionality. The idea is simple - when you're in range of a hotspot you can make calls cheaply over the internet and when you're out of coverage you can still be contactable via the standard GSM network.

The good

As the V660 runs Microsoft's Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system you get all the goodies you'd expect from a high end smartphone.

In addition to your normal phone functionality there's cut down versions of Internet Explorer for web surfing and Outlook for email on the go. With built in Wi-Fi, you can surf away without worrying about high data costs.

Wi-Fi also means you can use it with a VoIP service such as Sipgate which offers calls much more cheaply than normal mobile rates. Like most VoIP services, it depends on the speed of your internet connection and the sound does drop out at times, but it's still usable.

The bad

The V660 doesn't currently support Skype - perhaps the most popular VoIP service. Support is planned for later in the year, but there's no confirmed date at present.

Setting up the VoIP service is also fairly fiddly and involves entering seemingly random text into lots of different boxes to get it to work - although you only have to do it once, thankfully.

Battery life also wasn't brilliant - after just a day's moderate use with both GSM and Wi-Fi turned on it was down to half full so you'll need to keep it topped up regularly.

Geek Sheet

Connectivity: 850/900/1800/1900MHz GSM, Wi-Fi, USB

Internal memory: 64MB

Display: 1.9”, 176x220 pixels

Camera: 1.3 megapixel

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Dimensions: 44x107x15 mm

Overview

There's no confirmed price, but ZyXEL estimates it will sell for around £250 without contract which is fairly pricey considering most phones are given away free with a contract.

Design-wise it's fairly basic to look at, although it's relatively simple to use - especially if you know your way around Windows Mobile.

The VoIP functionality is a welcome addition, although lack of Skype support is disappointing and setting it up other services is quite complex and could be made easier.

Related sites: ZyXEL

iPhone? Nope, never heard of it

Nearly half of Americans adults have heard of the iPhone, despite the fact it's not even out yet, according to a survey. What's more, 17 percent said they already wanted to buy one - something that will not doubt delight the accountants at Apple.

However, not everyone is jumping at the chance to get their mitts on Apple's new baby - with only nine percent saying they'd be queuing up to buy one at launch. About 17 percent, however, were willing to wait until their current contract expires and a quarter would only buy it when their mobile company offers it.

Four out of ten people thought it was too expensive, though, and instead would wait for the price to come down.

Slightly bizarrely, the feature most people (37 percent) were after was its large storage capacity, followed by quad band support (36 percent). The shiny, much hyped interface only came in third at 31 percent.

The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, quizzed over 1,000 US residents aged over 18 online.

** More iPhone news on our iPhone blog iPhonic