Sprint tunes in the United States' first mobile audio download service as part of its PowerVision multimedia entertainment network, with several unique twists. For $2.50 per song, customers get two versions of a track formatted for play on the handset and
Sprint Nextel Corp. launched the United States' first mobile audio download service on Monday, introducing Music Store, which allows the company's subscribers to buy and listen to songs on their mobile phones without ever using a PC.
With the debut of the service, which is being delivered via technology from wireless audio specialists Groove Mobile, Sprint now offers its customers all three of the major portable music delivery platforms, including streaming content, downloads and satellite radio. The service was introduced as part of Overland Park, Kansas-based Sprint's Power Vision multimedia network, which now offers streaming radio and TV, mobile data capabilities, and the ability to use your handset as a modem, along with Music Store.
Unlike Apple Inc.'s market-leading iTunes download service, Music Store doesn't require customers to interface at all with a computer in order to push music to their phones. While Apple has launched the Rokr, a handset built in tandem with Motorola Inc. that can have MP3 files saved into its memory, consumers cannot use the phones to access the online iTunes service or to download content directly.
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For its part, Groove is already serving up a similar service for customers of mobile operator Orange in the U.K.
Using Music Store, subscribers can buy titles from the collections of EMI Music, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group at $2.50 per song. With each purchase a customer gets two copies of a track, with one formatted for usage on a mobile device and another shipped along for PC download and CD burning purposes. Sprint claims that the audio download to a handheld is completed in roughly 30 seconds per song.
Music Store also offers a wireless application for creating and using play lists, and software for moving other MP3s from a PC onto a mobile phone. The company will ship a stereo headset to people subscribing to the service.
As part of the launch, Sprint introduced two new mobile handsets for customers to use with the multimedia services, the Power Vision Phone MM-9000 made by Sanyo Electric Co. and the Power Vision Phone MM-A940 by Samsung. The Power Vision-capable phones include a removable memory card needed to download and play songs using the service, and Sprint said that customers using an optional 1GB memory card will have the ability to store up to 1,000 Music Store songs, or 330 MP3s from outside the download network.
Read the full story on eWEEK.com: Sprint Mixes In Mobile Download Service
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