Verizon Unveils V CAST Music

Verizon Wireless took the wraps off a new mobile-PC convergent music service, V CAST Music, today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Users can download songs over the air (OTA) to the handset and to a PC, can manage song libraries, rip tunes from CDs and transfer songs from PC to phone.

“We’re not going after the narrow music player market,” said Verizon Wireless CEO Denny Strigl. “This is a whole new world of content.”

V CAST Music includes a Verizon Wireless browsable and previewable music store stocked with a half-million songs from indie labels and bigger players like EMI, Sony BMG and Warner Music Group. Users can download songs from the store to the PC for 99 cents. Once downloaded, the song can be sent to the phone via USB for no additional charge. Users also can download songs OTA to the handset and send a copy to the PC, for $1.99 per song. Executives said the song titles will top 1 million soon, and that growing the music store is a primary goal in 2006. The carrier particularly will go after independent and emerging artists and labels, they said.

Verizon Wireless is partnering with Microsoft Corp. on the launch. V CAST users can “sideload” any Windows Media or MP3-format song onto the phone from the PC via USB, including those downloaded from other services and songs ripped from CDs. Tracks can be sent to any Windows Media-enabled device, including the Xbox 360, a portable music player or Internet device. Users have a library interface where they can store and manage their music, and can set up ringtones or ringbacks, and order videos.

OTA downloads from the V CAST music store will be delivered in a new format, Windows Media Audio Pro, which optimizes files for the cellular environment. Audio Pro files are about half the size of traditional downloads. The downside is the format is not yet supported on the PC version of Windows Media Player, so OTA downloads are for now not portable to other devices.

Users can carry an unlimited number of songs with them, using Sandisk memory cards. Verizon Wireless made an announcement with Sandisk today for a 2GB music memory card, and plans for a 4GB card are underway.

The first handset with V CAST Music enabled is the LG VX8100. There are 2 million VX8100s in the hands of Verizon Wireless customers today, who can get a firmware upgrade to make use of the music capabilities. Handsets from Samsung and UTStarcom are expected early this year.

“Mobile music is predicted to be a $3 billion business in four years,” said Strigl. “Not because we built it and hope that they will come, but because people want this.”

Verizon Wireless www.verizonwireless.com

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