14 DAY TRIAL // Now, where have we heard that before? Nevermind... If the man is right, Motorola Inc.'s iTunes phone will finally be unveiled next week.
Motorola, Apple and wireless carrier Cingular plan a joint iTunes unveiling next week, according to Roger Entner, a wireless industry analyst for market researcher Ovum. A source close to the two companies says the phone will be introduced on September 7, at an Apple media event in San Francisco.
Cingular would cover the sales area for the phone, added Entner, who said he got his information from sources at the companies. The phone will be able to connect to a personal computer and take music from Apple's popular iTunes program, but there is an expectation that users eventually will be able to download music directly onto the handset via a wireless network. Whether that capacity is incorporated starting launch date isn't known.
For now, Motorola declined to comment, though the company's chief executive, Ed Zander, said last month the iTunes phone would be out by Sept. 30.
Cingular also declined to comment. Apple couldn't be reached for comment, but it's known the fact that the company doesn't usually comment on such matters.
The iTunes phone was announced last summer, and was expected to be formally unveiled in March. But Motorola canceled the unveiling at the last second, a postponement alternately attributed to Apple and wireless carriers.
Over the last year, the wonder-phone would have had to come out plenty of times, but it didn't. Anyway. nobody seems to know for sure and the companies involved in the project keep a low profile on the matter. Could that be a marketing strategy, to attract as much public interest as possible? I mean, there's just a little too much "no comment" involved...