Nokia Debuts New Music Phone Brand

By Ed Oswald | Published September 26, 2005, 11:12 AM

Nokia on Monday debuted a new brand for its growing list of music-enabled phones in a effort to make them more easily identifiable by consumers. Called Nokia XpressMusic, the phones will have common features such as dedicated music keys and automatic pause and resume of incoming calls.

The phone maker's announcement coincides with the unveiling of a new phone to fall under the brand. The Nokia 3250, will support over-the-air downloading, Windows Media format songs, and up to 1GB of expandable memory.

The Nokia N91, previously announced in April, and then later delayed until early 2006 will also receive the XpressMusic branding.

"Nokia has blazed a trail for music on mobiles - from personalized ringing tones to integrated FM radios and MP3 support," said Jonas Geust, Vice President of Music at Nokia. "The Nokia XpressMusic feature brand makes it easier for consumers to identify those Nokia devices which provide a great quality mobile music experience."

The XpressMusic logo will appear on packaging and promotional materials for all phones with a certain set of music feaures.

Music-enabled phones are nothing new for Nokia; it sold 10 million phones with an integrated music player in 2004, and expects to sell 40 million this year.

Nokia's moves appear to be in reaction to the launch of the Motorola ROKR iTunes phone earlier this month. Phone manufacturers rushed to produce phones with music capabilities as rumors swirled for months surrounding the ROKR's release.

The Nokia 3250 will be available in the first quarter of 2006, possibly at the same time as the N91.

Comments

View comments by with a score of at least

I doubt Nokia cares about the iTunes phone, they are probably doing this because of Sony Ericsson´s Walkman branded phones.

Score: 0

|

'A pivot from war to peace:' The AMD + Intel armistice, in their own words

An extraordinary day in technology history is recognized by two long-time rivals that mutually decided it's futile to fight anyplace else except the marketplace.

PS3, Xbox to soon get Twitter, Facebook integration

Both Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 will integrate with Facebook in the near future.

Windows Marketplace for Mobile now available in browser, iTunes' App Store still not

You can now check out what Windows Marketplace for Mobile has to offer without a Windows Phone.

Microsoft damage control after marketer claims Win7 inspired by Mac

Have you ever said anything you wish you could take back? Ever? No? Not even once? Well then, you won't sympathize with a mid-level Microsoft manager today.

Blockbuster's way down, but poised for a comeback

Though it took a serious beating in 2009, Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes says the company can turn it around.

iTunes Preview deson't go far enough to create Web-based option for store

Apple has rolled out iTunes Preview, a Web interface for browsing iTunes.

PDC 2009 Preview: The move to Office 2010 and Visual Studio 2010

The major focus of Microsoft's conference next week will likely be explaining why two pillars of its software sales strategy deserve to remain where they are.

Dell's first smartphone aids the Android onslaught

Longtime PC leader Dell has finally announced its Android-based smarphone.

After the Intel + AMD armistice: Do we really want a level playing field?

Scott Fulton On Point: One by one, the reasons for us to continue suspending the course toward open and fair competition in IT, are dropping like flies.

FLO TV launches pocketable, smartphone-like TVs

Qualcomm's FLO TV Personal Television made by HTC launches in retail today.

Google acquires Gizmo5, builds IP telephony portfolio

Google Voice today confirmed rumors that it would acquire IP telephony company Gizmo5