Deals Announced At CES Show Convergence Of Products, Services
CES, the annual electronics convention in Las Vegas, is always a time for companies to reveal new products and announce new partnerships. For the music industry, yesterday's announcements showed that no one company can go it alone. As services and hardware become more integrated, we're going to see palpable shifts in how consumers -- all consumers, not the early adopters who dive head-first into any new gadget -- enjoy music. Here are a few of the key announcements thus far.
Apple and Cingular. The Wall Street Journal reported Apple is launching a mobile phone service and a phone. Cingular will be the network provider.
Microsoft and Clear Channel. Clear Channel will supply the HD radio content for Microsoft's MSN Direct service.
Microsoft and Motorola. Motorola's new mobile phone will use Microsoft's Windows Media DRM to allow users to play music from such services as Rhapsody, Napster, Yahoo! Music and URGE.
Morotola and Warner Music. The global agreement puts Warner Music content exclusively in Motorola mobile services.
Rhapsody and TiVo. Later this year, the Rhapsody music service will be integrated with TiVo so three million songs will be accessible on consumers' televisions.
Rhapsody and iriver. iriver announced two new Rhapsody-enhanced portable music players; one of the devices (pictured) will download music over the air from the Rhapsody music service. Both devices will be available by July 2006.
Rhapsody and Logitech. Next week, users of Logitech's Squeezebox and Transporter players will be able to access Rhapsody without using a PC. The service will be priced at $9.99 per month.
Music Groups