Omnifone launches iTunes killer

IN A move largely viewed as a reaction to Apple's launch of the iPhone, mobile music company, Omnifone, has announced a new service - MusicStation.

It claims to have agreements in place with 23 operators worldwide.

The crucial point about MusicStation is that music can be downloaded over 2.5G and 3G connexions - unlike theiPhone which can only use WiFi or a computer link.

More to the point, Omnifone claims its software will run on both Java and Symbian based phones which it argues constitute about 80 per cent of all handsets. Those that can't run it will be motivated to upgrade anyway.

The service employs its own DRM software but if the handset is lost or stolen, when the handset is replaced all purchased tracks can be downloaded again for no extra charge.

The service is being offered on a 'all-you-can-eat' basis for £1.99 per week in the UK.The first operator partners to announce rollout agreements for MusicStation will be Telenor and Vodafone's partner network, Vodacom, in South Africa.

Omnifone's list of countries where it expects to launch the service doesn't include the USA, however.

It claims its full track music service includes content from major labels as well as independent music labels and aggregators in local territories. The file format is Enhanced Advanced Audio Coding format (eAAC+).

For an extra £1 per week handset owners can subscribe to a premium version of the service which enables the tracks to be sent to a Mac or PC as well as downloaded onto their handsets.

The service is also intelligent and if a handset is running out of storage space it will automatically delete the oldest track to make room. If storage space is increased the old track can be reloaded.

Rob Lewis, CEO with Omnifone, suggested to the INQ that the main reason why operators are willing to sign up for his company's service is fear of revenues lost to Apple and its iTunes service.

The real beauty of MusicStation is that not only do tracks download in the background, the actual data fee is included in the cost of each track. This means that operators will actually get useful data traffic over their 2.5G and 3G networks. µ