Mot iTunes RAZR coming

Motorola is prepping the launch of the third-generation version of its iTunes phones in the US. The company this month began distributing marketing materials that advertise an iTunes-compatible version of its popular RAZR phone and has already begun selling the phone in the UK. In November of last year, the company announced the quad-band Motorola RAZR V3i, the third mobile phone from the company to run iTunes mobile software -- a result of the joint partnership between the two companies that began last year with the release of the first iTunes ROKR phone, which was called a flop by industry analysts and the media. Despite the failures, however, many industry analysts believe that music-enabled cell phones will challenge the iPod-dominated MP3 player market.

The forthcoming iTunes RAZR phone, due later this month, is based on the popular RAZR platform from Motorola, which has turned the company's fortunes around following loss of marketshare to rival manufacturers such as Nokia and Samsung. The company will use the "The RAZR that Rocks" slogan to help push sales of the new phone. As with other iTunes phones, the mobile handset will be available initially through the Cingular mobile carrier network. Last year, Apple CEO Jobs praised Cingular when commenting about the lack-luster reception of the first iTunes ROKR phone, but said that he was happy with the first iTunes mobile phone expermiment.

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The sleek flip Motorola RAZR v3i also includes a 1.23 megapixel digital camera and a micro-SD flash slot. The phone capacity is limited to 100 stored songs.

The second-generation iTunes phone, the Motorola SLVR L7, launched earlier this year following a report that the next-generation ROKR E2 cell phone will not include Apple's iTunes software, because it was developing its own download digital radio service to compete with Apple's iTunes.

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Motorola had initially planned to introduce the iTunes RAZR phone in the fourth quarter of 2005.

by MacNN Staff