Anything but phone calls! Anything but phone calls! I can figure posters nailed on mobile phone operators’ walls since it seems to be their top obsession, or the 2006 good resolution, you name it. And there is no lack of ideas, or alliances. Last in the line is Vodafone “Radio DJ”, a service “offered” by the world’s largest mobile phone operator, thanks to an agreement with Sony to deliver music services on mobiles.
It uses Sony’s NetServices. Naturally, we are talking about boosting 3G mobile networks and phones, a huge stalling development that falls more in the Eurotunnel than in the eBay or Nokia investment category so far.
Mobile phones - so far, the planet uses them to... call, and text
What is it? It’s a system that is based on personalization of downloads according to the client’s tastes, allowing him/her to customize through a “love/hate” button. Then, the Sony NetService - Radio DJ system will “learn” your tastes and skip similar songs in future downloads. Radio DJ consists of three modes:
Pre-defined, in which one selects a radio channel based on mood or genre. If you don’t like the song, the channel skips to the next track within the same channel. If you like it, just pay and it becomes available for download to the phone and PC. Personal Channels, which are based upon customers’ ratings on the existing channel. Customers can create channels according to their preferred genres, moods or specific themes. Collections: Radio DJ presents programmes created by local music experts, on mobile phone or PC. Such “collections” evoke a theme – Rock, Hip-Hop… they will be updated regularly, and will contain about 15 songs.Songs purchased on either mobile phone or PC will be available to download on both devices -a separate high quality stereo copy will go to each. Personal settings and channels created on the phone will also be accessible from the PC.
How much? It works on a monthly subscription basis for unlimited listening on both devices –PC, phone. Vodafone says there will be no extra charge for the necessary data traffic.
When? Soon... Radio DJ will be launched in 6 European countries shortly: UK, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain. It then (that’s if it works) will go to more than 20 countries worldwide over the following twelve months.
The projected menu for Radio DJ
Self-congrats (abstracts) #1, Lee Fenton, Director of Consumer Platforms at Vodafone: "This is the beginning of a new era in portable music." This sentence or a very similar one has been pronounced about one gazillion times at last week's CES 2006. He continues: "This partnership with Sony will drive Vodafone's strategy to become a leading global music provider. Vodafone Radio DJ is a revolutionary new way to discover personal music, anytime and anywhere, and we anticipate it will have widespread consumer appeal amongst our customers." Same remark. I will look for their declarations when 3G was beginning its career, several years ago. Names might have changed, not the content.
#2 Robert Ashcroft, Managing Director Sony NetServices and Senior Vice President Sony Europe: "Subscribers to Vodafone Radio DJ can listen to all the music they like, and discover new music to love. Vodafone Radio DJ opens a world of music discovery and listening pleasure on both the mobile phone and on the PC." Same remark, same research.
They won't spare time and money to have us all using these phones. But, to be honest, one must thank once again our governments for having issued these 3G auctions that resulted in valuations so out of control that it made London real estate prices look like a quiet, provincial secondary market. What did you do with the money Gordon?
What a world!
Visit Vodafone here
Visit Sony NetService here