**As published at digiday:DAILY**

Publisher: Rdio Price: $9.99 for unlimited web and mobile, $4.99 for unlimited web
Platform: iOS and BlackBerry
Advertising: None
Functionality: B+
Fun Factor: B
Overall: B+

Music has turned out to be a rather tough proposition on mobile. While apps like Pandora have soared in both popularity and revenue-generation capabilities, other apps like RealNetworks’ Rhapsody have garnered less favorable reviews and market penetration.

Still, there are a growing number of free and subscription-based streaming services to choose from, which makes the “music on mobile” market all the more compelling to participate in. Case in point: The Rdio app. Continue Reading

**As published at RCR Wireless News**

Nokia Corp. continues to buckle under the increasing might and will of its competitors in the smartphone space.

In a note to investors , the company downgraded the financial outlook for its devices and services division for the second (current) quarter and full year of 2010. The company said “multiple factors are negatively impacting Nokia’s business to a greater extent than previously expected.” While that may be true, it would be difficult to conclude that most of these “factors” have come as a surprise to the world’s largest manufacturer of cellphones. Continue Reading

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

SAN FRANCISCO – Although millions of fanboys and industry watchers have already seen what turned out to be the new iPhone 4 today, Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs still had a few surprises up his sleeve to share during his keynote at the company’s annual developer gathering.

If there is any less excitement or anticipation for Apple’s game-changing mobile device, that sure wasn’t apparent this morning. Lines began forming around the building at 6 a.m. this morning and when the gates to the main hall were finally raised for Jobs’ keynote there was a mad dash for seats (press included). The whole experience felt very rock concert in typical Apple fashion. Continue Reading

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

LAS VEGAS — In a dark, ambient-lit room with music from Blue Man Group blaring to get the crowd in the mood, Samsung Mobile today announced its latest smartphone, the Galaxy S.

The 4-inch super AMOLED touchscreen device runs on Android 2.1 and a 1 GHz processor developed by Samsung. At 9.9mm thin, the device packs all of the latest smartphone technology into the “thinnest, full-featured smartphone in the galaxy,” said Omar Khan, SVP of strategy, products and services at Samsung.

The technology juggernaut also took the opportunity to introduce S Life or Smart Life – a custom-built user experience that tweaks and improves the content and features smartphone users demand in a more cohesive environment. There’s also a Daily Briefing feature, which gathers custom information from a series of widgets and delivers them to the user on demand. Continue Reading

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

BARCELONA – “Any piece of content should be playable within five seconds.” That’s the goal Spotify is after with its hugely popular music service that barely anyone outside of Europe has ever heard of, CEO and Founder Daniel Ek said during a keynote.

In his elevator pitch, Ek described Spotify as an iTunes-like experience that allows users to access all of the world’s music.

The two-tiered platform is broken up into a free, ad-supported model and a premium model that allows users to access and cache their entire music library on their mobile device. Based on the latest exchange rates, the premium service costs $13.60 in Spain, France, Sweden, Norway and Finland; and $15.68 in the United Kingdom. For that price, users can download as many songs as they want every month. Continue Reading

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

BARCELONA – In India today there are 500 million wireless subscribers spanning across 14 operators. Bharti Airtel, the third largest single-country operator in the world, controls a 30% market share with more than 120 million of those customers and 1.9 million retail locations.

The company’s CEO Sanjay Kapoor took his turn on the keynote stage this morning to offer examples of the carrier’s push into mobile content and explain how a penny-per-minute model and ARPU of $2 to $3 is rapidly changing the carrier’s user base.

With 560 million youths, 700 million people living rural areas and 70% of the population not having a bank account, Kapoor and his team are vying to leverage every partnership and asset possible to differentiate the operator’s services offering and continue to deliver incredible growth numbers. Continue Reading

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

BARCELONA – For Nick Rhodes, the keyboardist in Duran Duran, technology has never been an afterthought, but rather something he’s tried to leverage every step of the way in the band’s 29-year career.

Whether its music videos, live show experiences or interactive engagement with fans, Rhodes has consistently tried to stay ahead of the curve, he said at a series of mini keynotes on mobile entertainment.

“When we’re making a new product, we first obviously create the songs and think about what visually we’re going to do, but then, you know, how do you get it out to people,” he said. Continue Reading

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

BARCELONA – At Mobile World Congress today, Microsoft finally offered an entirely new look and feel for its mobile operating system in Windows Phone 7 Series.

Presented as a complete reboot with no obvious remnants from the existing Windows Mobile operating systems (except for that “Start” button), Microsoft has finally delivered what almost every other competitor has already done to varying degrees of success: an answer to Apple’s iPhone.

When Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer took the stage this morning, his near-feverish excitement almost matched some of those who regularly clapped and yelped gleefully in the standing-room-only crowd. Continue Reading

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

BARCELONA – Two heavyweights in their own right, Nokia and Intel this morning announced plans to merge their Linux-based software platforms for next-generation devices.

MeeGo, which merges Intel’s Moblin and Nokia’s Maemo platforms, the software is intended to support multiple hardware types across a host of market segments, ranging from mobile computers, netbooks and tablets to next-generation smartphones, connected TVs and in-vehicle systems.

The goal is to allow developers to write an application once and have it work immediately on a variety of devices and platforms and then sell through Nokia’s Ovi Store and Intel’s AppUp Center. Continue Reading

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

BARCELONA – Sony Ericsson put on a media soiree here in an incredibly packed night club on the beach last night to announce a suite of new devices and strategies.

Not one executive hid from the incredibly tough slog the company has had of late, but each offered changes – both philosophical and tangible – that will improve market share and revenue if everything goes to plan.

“I’m feeling a new wave of minor euphoria,” Sony Corp. CEO and President Sir Howard Stringer said, adding that three years have passed since he last attended Mobile World Congress due to his disappointment with the joint venture’s performance through that period. Continue Reading