Omnifone announces MusicStation Handset
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Apple may have thrown down the first gauntlet with the iPhone but the UK's Omnifone is responding with what it claims will be the first handset with unlimited free music downloads wherever you are Â no computer necessary.
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Omnifone will launch MusicStation Max, a service that will give people unlimited free music downloads to their cell phone.
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Mobile phone giant Vodafone says it will introduce 10 new 3G handsets, many of which will be useable in Europe and Japan.
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(InfoWorld) - A U.K. startup hopes to compete withÂ Apple's new iPhone by offering a flat-rate music service that can run on most of today's mobile phones. Omnifone Ltd. launched on Thursday its MusicStation service that allows mobile phone users to download as many music tracks as they want for â¬2.99 (US$3.97) per week. The company previewed MusicStation in February at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona. The Swedish mobile phone subsidiary of Norwegian telco Telenor ASA is the first to offer the MusicStation service. More than 30 operators in Europe, Asia and South Africa have signed up to offer the service. To use MusicStation, users must have handsets preinstalled with the application. "MusicStation runs on any Java and music-enabled device," said Omnifone spokesman Tim Hadley. "We're talking about 75 percent of the phones currently available on the market." The company plans to have more than 100 million MusicStation-enabled handsets within the next 12 months. Omnifone has developed software that allows its application to be ported to the many different types of Java used on mobile phones, according to Hadley. One of the main benefits of MusicStation is quick and easy navigating and downloading -- unlike many of the carrier music portals, based on WAP (Wireless Access Protocol) technology, which can be time-consuming and difficult to browse, according to the spokesman. "The application is very comparable to an MP3 player user experience," he said. Downloads to mobile phones over 3G (third-generation) mobile phone networks can take between 30 seconds and one minute, all of which can happen in the background. The service also runs on GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) networks. Omnifone has signed licensing deal with several large music companies, including EMI Music, Sony BMG, Universal Music Group and Warner Music International. "We're starting with over 1 million tracks," Hadley said. DRM (digital rights management) technology protects all of the music. The mobile MusicStation service includes several features, such as messaging and the ability to share playlists and tracks. Over the next few months, the company plans to offer a MusicStation desktop application. For an additional â¬1 per month, customers can have all of the tracks downloaded to their mobile phones automatically download to their PCs when they log on to the portal service, according to Hadley. Operators, music companies and Omnifone will split revenue generated by MusicStation. Apple announced this week that iPhone users will need an account for its iTunes Store music service before activating the device. The iPhone debuts in the U.S. on June 29. Â
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London-based Vodafone has finally rolled out its mass-market third-generation (or 3G) mobile telephone services after a four-year wait, billions of pounds spent on licences and numerous delays.
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Nokia (NOK1V.HE), the world&#39;s largest  mobile phone maker, unveiled three new mobile handsets on  Monday intended to boost its offering of mid-range phones and  lift its global market share further from 36 percent.
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Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.  , China's leading communications network equipment  maker, unveiled three new music phone models on Wednesday at  the CommunicAsia telecom fair.
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LG Electronics  will start  to sell mobile phones in few months time giving consumers full  access to free music via Omnifone's MusicStation download  service, UK-based Omnifone said on Tuesday.
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Nokia , the world's top cellphone maker, unveiled on Thursday its new phone model 6301, which features unlicensed mobile access (UMA) technology.
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For the 'young and sociable', Finnish firm says Nokia has launched its anticipated XpressMusic handset line, rolling out three similarly styled handsets, including a revival of its 3250 twist phone.â¦
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A new music service that allows  consumers to directly download an unlimited number of tracks to  their mobile phones for a small weekly fee from wherever they  are will launch in Europe on Thursday.
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Responding to demand for ultra-thin designs, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB has announced a new Walkman music phone-- its slimmest handset yet. The product is one of several announced Tuesday ahead of the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona next week.
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Gracenote announced a new service that will become available on phones introduced on Thursday by Sony Ericsson.
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The world&#39;s top cellphone maker, Nokia  (NOK1V.HE), on Wednesday unveiled a new wireless music store  and a global gaming service.
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Vodafone, the world&#39;s largest mobile phone operator, today finally launched its third generation (3G) services as it seeks to recoup Â£16.
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Carphone Warehouse is to launch a new mobile phone service, which will run through Vodafone's network.
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Telefonica Moviles Espana, the leading operator in the Spanish market, today announced that it has licensed and launched a mobile music solution from Melodeo, a Seattle-based company, that allows Telefonica Moviles Espana to provide secure digital music