T-Mobile brings you music on the move

Rhys Lewis

One minute you could be listening to a song in a high street store, the next you're downloading the track and enjoying it for real. Truly mobile music

Mobile Jukebox finally makes the music phone truly useful with an instant download service that lets you access songs anywhere

Published on Jul 3, 2007

Sony Ericsson fans and staff should look away now, but despite the great designs, smooth interfaces and flash accessories, I've never been tempted by a music phone.

Until now, music phones have been little more than mp3 players shoehorned into a mobile phone case. The only advantage is that music phones are cheaper than mp3 players, often being supplied free with a contract.

On the downside, a 2GB memory card holds a lot fewer tracks than the huge capacities of even mid-range mp3 players.

What's more, despite the obvious world of connectivity opened up by the mobile web, there's been no other way to upload tracks to your phone other than via cable or Bluetooth from your PC.

At last though, one of the UK's mobile networks has thought to introduce phone and music player functions to one another, so that users can download songs on the move.

T-Mobile's Mobile Jukebox lets subscribers log onto the service's 500,000-strong online music catalogue, search for songs and download tracks for just £1 a time.

Swedish network Telenor recently linked up with MusicStation, which offers unlimited downloads for £1.99 a month, although you lose access to these tracks should you terminate your subscription. But Music Jukebox goes a step further - for their pound, T-Mobile users will get two versions of each track - a smaller one for their phones and a larger, high-quality file for their PCs and dedicated MP3 players.

T-Mobile will also host a web-based site for downloading tracks and managing your purchases, but a clue to the beauty of the Mobile Jukebox is in its name - one minute you could be listening to a song in a high street store, the next you're logging onto the service via the mobile web, downloading the track and enjoying it for real. Truly mobile music.

The service launches on 32 models sold by T-Mobile on July 3. Over half of these phones are available on pay as you go deals, as the company bids to attract the teens and twenties market most likely to listen to music on their mobiles.

The campaign's poster boy is the stylish Sony Ericsson W880i, a mobile that shows off an extra feature of Mobile Jukebox. Songs located by TrackID - the Walkman phone's instant music recognition service - can now be downloaded with a single click. It's a great innovation and one that truly makes music mobile.