Wireless Watch for October 17, 2003

Intel Inside Ringtones

[October 17, 2003] Hoping to make some beautiful digital music together, Intel and Sony Music Thursday said they are partnering to bring better quality music, images and video to Intel-based cell phones and PDAs.

The two companies also said they plan to co-develop some next generation apps and services for Intel-based phones, including applications that will enable consumers to use PC-based multimedia content on their cell phones.

The partnership is also hoping to take advantage of the same successes that Apple Computer has found with its iPod music player.

The companies say they may have a leg up considering Intel’s inroads into Windows-based systems. The plan is to make initial products from the collaboration available to carriers and handset makers in 2004.

“Music, and music videos in particular, promise to be among the most exciting applications for mobile devices,” Intel Senior Vice President Ron Smith said in a statement. “Through this collaboration, users will be able to take Sony Music’s premium entertainment content with them anywhere and be able to enjoy a quality experience.”

— by Michael Singer, originally published on InternetNews.com.

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NYTimes.com Launches Mobile News Service

[October 17, 2003] NYTimes.com is launching a new subscription-based mobile news service for subscribers of largest U.S. carrier, Verizon Wireless.

The news site developed the service in conjunction with Vindigo Studios, the content development arm of mobile city guide distributor Vindigo. The new subscription service, priced at $3.75 per month of access, is available to Verizon Wireless customers with Get It Now-capable phones.

New York Times Digital has partnered with Vindigo since March 2000 to provide PDA users with restaurant, nightlife and film reviews from NYTimes.com and Boston.com.

“We are pleased to expand our long-term partnership with Vindigo Studios,” said Ira Silberstein, director of business development for New York Times Digital.

Subscribers can also email articles to friends and download New York Times color photos to use as wallpaper on their phones.

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Treo 600 Launches to Acclaim

[October 17, 2003] Handspring has released the Treo 600 with wireless service from Sprint, and the device is generating a lot of buzz. The Treo 60 combines a phone, a Palm OS 5-based organizer, messaging, email and Web-browsing capabilities into a compact device with a phone-like look and feel.

The device seems to be generating a lot of buzz among marketers and gadget fetishists, as reported by Gizmodo and other Web sites. It retails for $600.

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Nokia Provides Its MMS Infrastructure to Cingular

[October 17, 2003] Nokia said it will supply its multimedia messaging services (MMS) infrastructure solution to Cingular Wireless, the second largest wireless carrier in the U.S. The Nokia MMS solution allows users to send photographs, pictures, video and voice or sound clips with text messages. Once it becomes ubiquitous, the technology could eventually enable mobile marketers to deliver richer content to phones.

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Dow Jones Launches European News Service

[October 17, 2003] Dow Jones Newswires has tapped mobile marketing firm YellowPepper to create a news service for delivery to wireless devices in Europe. Under the agreement, YellowPepper will integrate Dow Jones headlines into its wireless messaging platform and syndicate the content to European network operators. Additionally, YellowPepper will create a subscription service, available via the Internet and wireless application protocol.

Dow Jones Newswires said the news alerts will be available in many languages, including English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Italian and Portuguese.

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