Napster Mobile on New Samsung Phone from AT&T (NewsFactor)
Gadgeti And Hitech 20.11.2007A new phone from AT&T and Samsung will be offering Napster Mobile this holiday season. Called the SLM, the exclusive-to-AT&T phone will let users search the music service's catalog of more than five million songs, preview song samples, and buy songs to download to the handset. ADVERTISEMENT
The brushed-metal, clamshell-shaped device is the first of AT&T's phones to offer the music service. Five tracks can be downloaded each month from Napster Mobile under the five-track pack option for $7.49, or purchased one at a time for $1.99. AT&T Vice President Carlton Hill said that the SLM "represents the best collection thus far of our music, multimedia, and messaging services." Music Apps and More Other music services available through the phone include XM Radio Mobile, Pandora, and the MusicID song-recognition service. There is also AT&T Video Share, stereo Bluetooth, a 2.0-megapixel camera with video-capture capabilities, advanced messaging options, and download speeds of up to 1,400 Kbps through AT&T's HSDPA network. It is also the first phone to have AT&T's mobile banking application, a recently announced offering that allows customers of Wachovia and SunTrust Banks to view their bank account balances, move funds, or pay bills. But packing in features does not always mean the easiest-to-understand, media-oriented phone, said Avi Greengart, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis. AT&T's music offerings are "the most confusing" of the big carriers, he said, with eMusic, Apple, and now Napster. He added that the AT&T services even differ by device, and "you would need a giant monstrous spreadsheet" to keep track of the configurations. Confusing Options? Greengart said this overabundance of options is evident for customers who go into an AT&T store and say they are interested in getting a music-oriented phone. Because it's too complicated for most of the store personnel to match services with the customer needs, he said, the customer is often simply asked, "How much do you want to spend?" He said that Verizon, by contrast, offers V-Cast to over-$50 phones. It is expensive and the experience is "sub-par," he said, but added that the Verizon model is less confusing. Greengart also said that the five-tracks package price has combined various pricing strategies. He noted that Apple's 99-cents-per-song price has become a reference point, with Sprint offering songs for that price as well. Verizon, on the other hand, is charging $1.99 for over-the-air downloads, he said, apparently based on the notion that over-the-air downloads should have a premium fee. AT&T has "split the difference," Greengart explained, determining that songs are $1.99 unless you buy them in a five-pack.
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