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mSpot brings new release movie streaming to major US carriers

by Darren Murph posted Sep 30th 2009 @ 11:34AM

mSpot has been streaming full-length movies to cellphones for a few years now, but not until this week has the company had a potential customer base of 40 million. As of right now, mobile phone users on Sprint, AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile (yes, that includes the G1, Pre, iPhone and every other smartphone with a half-decent browser) can surf over to m.mspot.com in order to stream major motion pictures, and being that the service is on-demand, you can also pause and restart 'em whenever you darn well please. Deals have been inked with Paramount Studios, Universal Pictures and the Weinstein Company, and we're told that more agreements are in the works. Movie rentals will cost $4.99 per title, and can be viewed from 24 hours to 5 days after they're rented. Naturally, mSpot recommends paying for an "unlimited" data plan, and if you're smart, you won't utilize the service whilst traveling abroad.

MusicStation Max offers unlimited free music downloads to your mobile

by Nilay Patel posted Feb 11th 2008 @ 7:45PM

After the QTrax debacle, we were a little wary when we started hearing rumbles about a similar service from OmniFone called MusicStation Max that promised, flat-fee, unlimited downloads from all the major labels to your cellphone with no expiration dates -- but color us surprised, it's for real. OmniFone's MusicStation is already a player in the European mobile music game, partnered with giants like Vodafone, and the MusicStation Max launch seems like a natural evolution in the vein of Nokia's Comes With Music program: consumers will buy a pre-licensed MSM phone -- the first will be available from LG in a few months -- and be able to download away for 12 to 18 months, with the ability to sideload back to a computer or to other licensed phones. The exciting part, of course, is that unlike almost every other subscription program on the market your music will still play when the license expires. Add to that the fact that everything from the tracks to playlists to friend recommendations will be backed up on the network in case you lose your device, and we're definitely intrigued -- but we'll wait to see how well all this DRM actually works before we call this thing a winner.

Nokia's Comes with Music service revenue to be shared with operators

by Thomas Ricker posted Jan 28th 2008 @ 6:43AM

Remember Nokia's Comes with Music (CWM) service? The service which includes a full year of free DRM'd music downloads with the purchase of a CWM cellphone. Up to this point, Nokia has refused to comment on the financial details of the service. Important since "free" is expected to be anything but free with those music costs tucked neatly into the price of the handset, the carrier's data plan, or both. In an interview published by Bloomberg, Tero Ojanpera, Nokia Executive VP, discussed CWM and says that, "In those cases where we cooperate with operators, there will be an arrangement so they can get a piece." Something previously hinted at by Nokia's CEO back in December. Still no word on who, beyond Universal, will offer their music on the new service or how much the new bundled handsets will cost. Ojanpera did repeat that CWM won't be available on existing Nokia devices. For its part, Universal says that DRM is a definite component of the service -- a possible deal-breaker if that DRM limits your CWM downloads to a single handset and PC for eternity.

Nokia: our Comes with Music service is not Universal's Total Music

by Thomas Ricker posted Dec 7th 2007 @ 3:21AM

Remember Nokia's utopian / not-so-free and crippled "free" Comes with Music offering? We've been in contact with Nokia who'd like to clarify the service. According to Nokia, Comes with Music is, "completely independent from the Universal music store." Nokia further distances themselves by stating that, "Universal was simply the first of these to publicly sign on. The fact that there are some similarities shows how the industry is thinking about the future of digital music - but its not a sign of any direct linkage between the offerings." So, now we know what it isn't, but we still don't know exactly what it is. Regardless, anything can happen between now and the launch in "mid 2008" -- an eternity on a digital music evolution timeline. Perhaps the lack of detail is Nokia's way of farming public opinion before the details are announced. Wouldn't be a first.

Music industry has another death-spasm, coughs up "ringles"

by Nilay Patel posted Sep 10th 2007 @ 10:45PM

It seems like very couple months one of the major labels announce yet another harebrained scheme to entice consumers to purchase CDs, regardless of what people actually prefer, and right on schedule, Sony BMG and Universal have announced their latest three-martini-and-a-cocktail-napkin plan: the "ringle," a $6 CD single featuring a remix and ringtone. There's really not much more to say -- trying to revive the CD single by adding in something that consumers are used to getting over-the-air seems like it speaks for itself -- but it's certainly interesting to see the labels desperately try and nab as much of the ringtone market as they can, even as their partners try and move forward. We'll see you at the funeral, boys.

[Image courtesy of Boy Genuis Report]

Sony Ericsson's patent application for cellphone as remote

by Sean Cooper posted Mar 4th 2007 @ 10:47PM

Look mom, my cellphone can control the whole universe! Sony Ericsson filed a patent application for a cellphone-based remote control that downloads its command set from the device you want to control. Flexible remote control -- with no need to go hunting for codes -- that part is pretty cool. If you look carefully, the handset in the sketch in a S7xx -- not exactly a fresh-off-the-line device. Apparently this patent application was filed in August 2005, and either the gang in northern Europe has given up on this gem of an idea or has decided to let it go and move on to bigger and better things. We think they should focus on a phone that can project an image on the wall, and then be used for video conference calling with stereo sound -- or maybe just release a mobile with HSDPA, yeah, that would be even better.

[Via Mobile Mentalism]

Marsilli kicks out cellphone-controlled toy car / flash drive

by Darren Murph posted Jan 22nd 2007 @ 6:05PM

We're not exactly sure what's up with Asia's infatuation with toy cars and shoving completely irrelevant (but entirely useful) features inside of them, but now Marsilli is offering up its own admittedly peculiar flash drive in the shape of a vehicle. Presumably in direct competition with Gold Kiwi's Bluetooth GPS receiver ride, this Mobile Remote Control Car is a diminutive four-wheeled ride with impressive aerodynamics, a 512MB flash drive built-in, USB connector in place of a central-mounted exhaust, and it even allows users to drive it around a cardboard course with "any cellphone." Of course, we're not entirely sure if all that controlling action is done over Bluetooth or some other propriety channel, but we have strong suspicions "every mobile" might not be equipped to handle this road burner. Nevertheless, you can probably pick one of these up in the near future at your favorite street corner vendor in Asia, but for now, click on through for a more closeups.

Continue reading Marsilli kicks out cellphone-controlled toy car / flash drive

i-mate's JASJAR redux, the K-JAR

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 25th 2006 @ 5:05PM

It looks like i-mate's ongoing collaboration with TechFaith is starting to pick up a good head of steam, seeing how they've gone and entrusted the Chinese ODM with serving up the de facto successor to the HTC-sourced JASJAR. Not a heck of a lot is known about this pivoting, flipping, QWERTY-sporting monster of a device, though it apparently (strangely) lacks that all-important 3G radio its predecessor packed. Features are rumored to include a 2.8-inch QVGA display, WiFi, Bluetooth, 128MB of ROM, 64MB of RAM, and a TI OMAP750 core clipping along at an undisclosed clock speed. With i-mate making (or at least trying to make) inroads in the US market, this is one Pocket PC phone the full-keypad lovers among us will be tracking with eagle eyes.

[Via HowardForums, thanks Galt]

HTC "Omni" to take torch from Universal?

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 11th 2006 @ 1:37PM

Amidst a flurry of recent product announcements (and leaks) out of the HTC camp, their king-of-the-hill Universal (pictured) kinda got lost in all the hubbub. What's next for the psuedo-laptop of the Windows Mobile world? MoDaCo is reporting that the "Omni" will serve as the Hermes to the Universal's Wizard (if you will) by taking the Universal form factor, tacking on an HSDPA radio, and swapping out the Intel processor for a speedier Samsung core. As an added bonus, the Omni should be a bit slimmer than the model it replaces and rock Windows Mobile 5 AKU3, giving hope that the device will have VGA out capability. If HTC can finalize the specs in short order, we could allegedly see this thing as early as the end of this year, though 1H 2007 seems the more likely target.

[Via Pocket PC Thoughts]

TechFaith's i320, SLVR, and Universal rips

by Ryan Block posted Jun 23rd 2006 @ 9:12PM

You know, we might have done another TechFaith keepin' it real fake post, but honestly we don't really see the point. Oh sure, TechFaith is totally knocking off these other guys with their phony Q and Hermes and so on, but when they showed off their new fake i320, SLVR, and Universal at CommunicAsia this week, we started to realize not only were these guys moving at lightning speed emulating these phones, they were also improving them. The SLVR rip has an impressive 512MB integrated flash memory; the i320-alike uses Pocket PC -- similar to their Q ripoff, and differing, of course, from both the original devices which are stuck with Smartphone; we'd imagine the faux-Universal won't have a VGA display or some of those other ultra high-end niceties, but damned if they don't have the twist n' swivel display in a form factor smaller than the original. TechFaith Wireless, we think you're about one post away from getting your own category on Engadget Mobile.

Universal Studios starts mobile division

by Paul Miller posted May 4th 2006 @ 9:45PM

Yeah, everybody is doing it, but there's always room for one more media conglomerate to create overpriced mobile content for the masses. Universal Studios has just launched a mobile unit, Universal Mobile Entertainment, that will provide mobile content based on Universal properties. Turns out they'll be playing it pretty safe, with games, ringtones and mobile versions of existing video clips. Tie-ins will include modern hits like "Battlestar Galactica" and classics such as "Jaws." They're also looking into the possibility of doing mobisodes like those done for ABC's "Lost" and Fox's "Prison Break," but nothing solid on that front yet.

[Via MocoNews]

Qtek 9000 gets AKU2

by Marc Perton posted Apr 7th 2006 @ 5:20PM

Qtek has become the latest company to bless another group of customers with the glories of AKU2, adding not just push email, but the extra bonus of A2DP to their version of the HTC Universal (owners of the i-mate version have had the goods for a month already). Owners of the Qtek 9000 can hop over to Qtek's web site and download the update right now. Now. So, do it already!