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Motorola Introduces iTunes Phone, Apple Goes Smaller

Nano Takes Mini's Place As Smallest iPod

After a series of bragging points and updates on Apple's music business, CEO Steve Jobs unveiled an iTunes-enabled cell phone Wednesday, as well as a new, ever-smaller version of the iPod.

The Motorola ROKR E1 can hold about 100 songs in flash memory, Jobs said. He said it is very much like an iPod Shuffle on a phone, including that it does not have the iconic wheel of most other iPods. However, it also has a color display.

Cingular Wireless will be the exclusive carrier for the phone, which pauses automatically when a call comes in.

It will sell for $249 with a two-year service agreement.

Apple also revamped its iPod offerings, adding the iPod nano, which can hold about 1,000 songs in a 4GB configuration and has a color display. It also allows people to lock their devices with a password, because it has contact and calendar information.

The nano, which comes in two colors, will sell for $249, or for $199 for a 2GB version. Both types use flash memory, rather than a hard drive. It can play for 14 hours on a single charge, Apple said.

Observers noted that the iPod mini has been removed from Apple's Web site.

Other updates from Apple included:
  • A new release of the iTunes software, version 5.0. It includes a new search bar, the ability to organize in folders -- not just playlists -- and a "Smart Shuffle" feature that lets users set how often certain songs are played in random mode.
  • The new software also includes parental controls.
  • iTunes will be the exclusive provider of downloadable audio books for the entire Harry Potter series, and Apple will sell a Potter-branded iPod.
  • iTunes will also sell Madonna's entire music collection.
  • The iTunes music store continues to dominate the industry, Jobs said. More than 10 million people have accounts, and the site serves 1.8 million downloads a day. It has 80 percent of the market.

    Just about every major cell phone maker has been working to launch a music phone that could compete with the iPod, Apple's popular digital music player.

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