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Nokia's all you can download Comes with Music service is finally DRM free... in China (updated)
We've been browbeating Nokia for using DRM to "protect" its Comes with Music offering ever since the service launched back in December of 2007 -- a time when the industry was just beginning to shed its DRM shackles. Now get this, the idle talk is over, Nokia just launched its all-you-can-eat (for 12, 18, or 24 months, typically) Comes with Music service in China without any DRM at all. India is on deck as Nokia looks to hook more emerging markets on the (kind of) free music drug. That means you no longer have to strip the DRM illegally to play your downloaded content on devices other than your main PC and Nokia Comes with Music handset. And yes, you can keep the tracks for life after your CWM subscription expires. At launch, Chinese consumers will have a choice of eight (ok, seven really) CWM handsets (X6 32GB and X6 16GB, 5230, 5330, 5800w, 6700s, E52 and E72i) with prices starting at a local equivalent of €140 (the CWM service fee is baked in to the cost, mind you) excluding taxes and subsidies. Suspiciously, Nokia's not making the usual boast about the millions of tracks available in the CWM catalog. It is, however, reassuringly supported by all the Big 4 music labels in addition to some Chinese indies, as you'd expect. Sorry, no word on when they'll strip the DRM from its European CWM stores and we're still not clear when CWM will finally see a US launch. Hopefully soon as a service like this could go over very, very well Stateside -- a market that Nokia is desperate to crack. Get on to the other side of the break for the full press release. Update: We met with Jyrki Rosenberg, Director of Music at Nokia, who shed a bit more light on the offering. Unfortunately, while DRM-free music aligns with Nokia's global vision, he had nothing to announce for the US or Europe today. And as you might expect, the onus to go DRM-free in China was in part driven by rampant, local piracy concerns -- recovery of any revenue was better than nothing at all in the eyes of the Big Four. Jyrki also told us that Chinese CWM subscriptions will be 1 year in length but the terms of renewal are still being hammered out. We also know that the music catalog numbers in the "hundreds of thousands" at launch (comparable to competing services in the region, according to Jyrki) and is growing every day. Privacy advocates will be happy to hear that the 256kbps MP3 files are "clean" -- in other words, no user data is embedded in the files unlike the practices of Apple and Walmart, among others.
Nokia 5330 Mobile TV Edition is... a 5330 with mobile TV
It's not often that you see an existing handset remixed with entirely different kinds of radios built in, so color us a bit surprised this week to see Nokia announce a new version of the 5330 slider this week sporting DVB-H mobile TV tuning compatibility. Knowing what we know of DVB-H, its presence signifies that a North American release is a straight-up no-go, which is actually a bit of a shame -- it's a slick-looking Series 40 handset with a 3.2 megapixel cam and 3.5mm headphone jack for €155 (about $230) without a hint of contract or subsidy. Then again, just how badly do we want to watch football on a 2.4-inch display?
Nokia 5330 XpressMusic destined for T-Mobile USA?
T-Mobile's US outpost has developed a fetish for Nokia's XpressMusic series over the past couple years, so why not keep the good times rolling? Of course, the one thing they've been missing so far is some good, old-fashioned AWS 3G, and if the rumors check out, that's where the just-announced 5330 slider comes into play. There's a render floating around bearing T-Mobile's corporate branding atop a cyan-hued 5330 right now supposedly rocking 1700MHz HSDPA -- and yes, granted, this isn't the most difficult Photoshop job in the world, but launching this product sure would seem to make a ton of sense, wouldn't it? Cell Phone Signal claims we should see this one in the June / July time frame, which -- considering the Europe-to-America time rift, isn't an entirely unreasonable release lag.
Nokia XpressMusic 5030, 5330, and 5370 get handled on video
Nokia has posted feature run-through videos of all three of its newly-introduced XpressMusic devices, and they're just raw enough to stave off that over-polished marketing material feel. The musical accompaniment in all three videos is pretty amazing, but the 5730's is worth the price of admission all on its own -- so click through to all three to learn everything you need to know before pulling out the ol' coin purse. Read - 5030 Read - 5330 Read - 5730
Nokia outs 5730 and 5330 XpressMusic and 5030 XpressRadio handsets as expected
Yup, All About Phones nailed it as Nokia just announced its 5730 XpressMusic QWERTY, 5330 XpressMusic slider, and lowly 5030 XpressRadio candybar bringing up the tail. The trio of handsets spread across different price-points should make access to the Nokia Music Store (now available in 15 countries) that much easier. The top-end 5730 (available Q3, €280) is Nokia's first QWERTY device optimized for both music and gaming with dedicated audio and N-Gage keys. The 5330 slider (Q3, €260) steps up the design with illumination effects while adding a 3.5-mm jack and 26-hours of audio. The 5030 XpressRadio (Q2, €40) is Nokia's first with an internal FM radio antenna thereby eliminating the need for a headset or external speakers. With that as its major selling point, you've probably already guessed that it's heading to emerging markets.
Nokia introducing 5030, 5330, and 5730 XpressMusics at tomorrow's event?
We know that the shindig Nokia's putting on tomorrow has something to do with music, so it's certainly within the realm of possibility that we'd see some new XpressMusic handsets there, and indeed, All About Phones seems to have scooped the goods. It looks like we'll be treated to no fewer than three models -- all Xpress-branded, naturally -- starting on the low end with the 5030 candybar. This one eschews XpressMusic for the less audiophile-sounding "XpressRadio" name, pimping its in-built FM radio support and a large, squarish speaker around back at a crazy low price of €40 ($51) unsubsidized. Moving one rung up the range is the 5330 XpressMusic slider, packing a 3.5mm jack, some sort of special light effects for the ravers in the audience, and 24 hours of listening time; it'll be available in the third quarter for €160 ($204). Finally, we have the rumored 5730 (pictured) -- the only of the three to run S60 and lay claim to a genuine smartphone title. This one follows in the E75's footsteps by packing both a numeric and a landscape QWERTY slide, WiFi, a 3.2 megapixel cam, HSDPA, and GPS, but the most interesting new feature here might be the "Xpress Home Screen" which exposes your loaded media right from the phone's -- you guessed it -- home screen. This one should hit in the second quarter for €280 ($357) and will be offered in a Comes With Music version in some countries. How's about killing off DRM while you're at it, Nokia?Update: iDNES.cz points out that the 5030 has already been on sale in Pakistan since November, so it's conceivable that Nokia will be using the event to present the low-end phone to a broader audience -- or that it won't be shown at all.
Mitel releases 5330 and 5340 IP phones for the suits
If you've been looking for a nice, IP-based boringphone for your desk job, Mitel is releasing their new 5330 and 5340 VoIP phones that might be worth a look. The 5330 ($395) and 5340 ($495) both support Mitel's new Gigabit Ethernet and Wireless LAN stands for hooking into your network, and sport E-911, Mitel's MiNet protocol and SIP. Slightly more interesting is the 160 x 320 display (backlit on the pictured 5340) for softkey use, and the ability to use Dreamweaver or FrontPage to create your own interfaces and apps for use on the phone. We're thinking a text-based RPG should be doable, er, we mean, call-routing shortcuts to boost your productivity 15 percent!
