Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Napster Mobile Invades Europe
Posted by Nurhisham Hussein in "NEWS" @ 09:00 PM
"Napster will launch its first mobile download service for Europe in Ireland later this month on Telefónica's O2 Ireland network. Customers will have access to Napster Mobile's catalog of 3 million songs, ring tones, and artist images. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, which is hosting and managing the service for O2, will provide other content."
Napster is taking another step towards rehabilitating its image as a legitimate music provider by tapping into the mobile download market. Personally, as someone who still uses default ringtones (hey, with all the customisation going on, that almost counts as having a custom ringtone anyway!) and who thinks music comes in albums, this really isn't up my alley. But I'm not so blind as to ignore that music and ringtone downloads are popular with many, and Napster could very well be tapping into a lucrative, under-served market. Napster Mobile will initially be made available only through I-mode enabled handsets, though java and WAP compatibility is expected to follow. No news yet on pricing or further expansion to other countries, but I imagine it'll only be a matter of time.
Napster is taking another step towards rehabilitating its image as a legitimate music provider by tapping into the mobile download market. Personally, as someone who still uses default ringtones (hey, with all the customisation going on, that almost counts as having a custom ringtone anyway!) and who thinks music comes in albums, this really isn't up my alley. But I'm not so blind as to ignore that music and ringtone downloads are popular with many, and Napster could very well be tapping into a lucrative, under-served market. Napster Mobile will initially be made available only through I-mode enabled handsets, though java and WAP compatibility is expected to follow. No news yet on pricing or further expansion to other countries, but I imagine it'll only be a matter of time.
