Cingular confirms new deal

Cingular today revealed its new music initiative following earlier reports that the mobile carrier would challenge Apple's dominance in the digital music market. Dubbed Cingular Music, the service allows Cingular subscribers to buy, subscribe to, or stream music from multiple high-profile online networks through handsets from LG, Samsung, and Sony-Ericsson. The carrier has partnered with online stores Napster, Yahoo! Music, and eMusic to allow customers of these stores to obtain and transfer music directly from their cellular phones at no additional cost beyond those of the stores themselves, according to Electronista. Support for Napster and Yahoo! subscription services, where customers can download unlimited songs at a fixed monthly rate, is a cell phone industry first, according to Cingular. Cingular users can also subscribe to XM Radio Mobile for $9 per month to stream 25 of the satellite radio network's more popular channels. Cingular Music will officially launch on November 6th.

by MacNN Staff