By now you may have seen reports on our sister site Engadget noting that Microsoft will release a portable music player later this year that will be a rival to Apple's iPod. The music phone (grainy pix from Engadget to the right)
What's more, this device will have the capability of over-the-air ordering of MP3 clips for download directly to the handset.
That's just for starters. Sometime next year, this mystery handset will become centerpiece in a branded cell phone service that Microsoft will start.
Guess what. This service will not only be compatible with the portable music player, but with handsets running on BlackBerry OS' rival Windows Mobile.
Given that a BlackBerry with MP3 playback capability should be available within the time frame I have just described, I must ask if BlackBerry will be missing out here. It seems to me that if BlackBerry offers MP3 but does not develop their own relationship with a music store, then they will be at a disadvantage in this segment.
1. Wow! Are we forgetting that this is primarily a business device? I'm all for a bell here and a whistle there on a new pro-sumer-centric blackberry offering but does that mean the company must now fixate on this fickle albeit (granted) large market segment. Dance with who brung ya! And who knows... at the end of the night you may just get lucky!
Posted at 6:43PM on Jul 6th 2006 by foner