T-Mobile customers can now enjoy full-track music downloads, with over 500,000 tracks available for £1 each from its new Mobile Jukebox service.
The T-Mobile Mobile Jukebox is a dual-download service. Tracks bought from the phone or online are available in two versions. One's for a mobile phone - either 2.5G or 3G - and the other is PC-downloadable. Once bought, Mobile Jukebox tracks can be easily copied from the PC to any digital music device or phone.
T-Mobile has signed deals with the four major record labels and key independent record companies. The Mobile Jukebox service will initially work on 32 handsets, including non-3G models, and will be available for both contract and pre-pay customers.
Some 19 Mobile Jukebox handsets will be available on pre-pay. Prices start at free for contract phones and the cheapest Mobile Jukebox pre-pay models are £50. T-Mobile is configuring its Mobile Jukebox handset range for fast access to the service, with some phones having dedicated buttons for one-press connection.
The T-Mobile Mobile Jukebox service uses a dual-download system similar to that pioneered by 3 and subsequently adopted by Vodafone . Two versions of Mobile Jukebox tracks are sent to customers. Mobile users get music files in compressed AAC format, making over-the-air downloading quicker. It's under 10 seconds for a 3G phone; 60-90 seconds on a 2.5G phone.
The PC downloadable file is in WMA format; this can be copied to another device up to 10 times. Mobile Jukebox tracks are also stored in a 'My Music' area on T-Mobile's website. So if you lose your handset you can still get copies of your purchased tracks.
Free music downloads
Customers will be able to charge the £1 a go downloads to their monthly contract bills or have them taken from pre-pay credits. T-Mobile is running a July promotion for new Mobile Jukebox customers, giving them five free tracks downloads to start with.
A T-Mobile spokesperson told Tech.co.uk that T-Mobile had been working closely with phone manufacturers, particularly Sony Ericsson , on integrating the Mobile Jukebox services. On some Sony Ericsson Mobile Jukebox handsets, such as the W880i Walkman , its TrackID feature can identify music you hear and send back a link to get the track directly on Mobile Jukebox.
The T-Mobile Mobile Jukebox service is provided by Musiwave .
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