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