Very interesting video from cnn re reaction from asia
http://news.yahoo.com/i/2446

I know from my regular visits to seoul that watching tv on mobile (w/ 3G) has been around for at least most of 2006....

Not just Korea (although they've been pushing satellite broadcast to handphones since 2005). It's available (if not widely used) in Europe too. My current provider, Orange UK, offers it.

(Then again, I don't remember Apple being particularly high profile in Korea in particular - the Apple Store hidden away in COEX shows that. Apple's profile seemed much higher in Japan.)

As I said earlier on in the thread, if what Jobs said about the way people use handsets in the US is true (e.g. not using phonebooks), Apple will be five years ahead in a market that's six years behind.

I think the real reason radio is not built-in is that not a significant segment of the market really wants this enough to make it worthwhile to add it to the product, which would increase the cost.

Sure, Apple wants users to buy music from iTunes, but IME, they haven't been too restrictive about limiting accessing music from other sources. iTunes is very easy and flexible with lots of options available for ripping CDs. Podcasts and internet radio were really helped along when they were integrated into iTunes. Importing music into iTunes is as simple as dragging and dropping.

I haven't seen a pattern of restricting features to encourage sales at the ITMS, so I really don't think this has anything to do with a radio not being built-in to iPods. I believe it's simply about the increase in pricepoint and the need to balance that with appealing to the largest segment of the market. Most people would rather save $5 on an iPod than have a built-in radio.

For those who want a radio, inexpensive FM dongles are out there that fit on the iPod connector. I noticed the iPhone has the same connector as other iPods, so we can expect existing dongles to work, I think.

A small hair to split.

Apple has no Apple Retail Stores in Korea yet.

Any stores you see there are reseller stores, and they can locate the stores wherever they choose, even if this means hiding them away.

If anything, this backs up your main point, though, that Apple's presence in Korea isn't as high-profile as its presence in Japan. I agree with you there. Asia as a whole is a unique market, and Korea in particular is quite unique for all kinds of reasons (its position in the electronics industry, culture, economy, its relationship with China, Japan and the US, etc).

Mea culpa - it was an "Apple Experience Center" run by a reseller, but was decked out to look just like a 'real' Apple retail store. And while it was tucked away, it was pretty big in what must be a pretty expensive location.

Apparently it also closed in July 2006 (I was last there in March).

Korea is certainly unique (then again, where isn't? ).

Dunno where you got your data - if at all - but FM radio is the norm on non-Ipods so obviously people want and like them if offered.

By this logic mobile phones would still be saddled with add-on camera. Thank God Apple stayed out of the market while cameras became the norm I guess!
And this same logic will have them refuse to put a GPS ito the phone and instead sell you an expensive Apple "i-GPS" or funnel you to ake expensive data charges on the mobile network to locate yourself.

FM radio is not the norm on "non-iPods". A few have them.

and i dont think you need a radio these days. who is listening to a radio these days?

maybe if you are driving your car.

dp

Nielsen media would tell you that millions listen to radio. They are not charity businesses. They make money because they have audiences.

Go to any non-Ipod user forum and you'd find that people want and use the radio in the MP3 player.

So please, rado isnt irrelevant simply because guru Steve Jobs isnt interested. And 3G isnt irrelevant simple because it isnt convenient for Apple and Cingular.

Hmmmmmmm......guess you never heard how shock jock Howard Sterns got millions for Sirius, and then there's that other one - XM Satellite?

I thought we were talking about FM radio?

^ ^ ^

I don't have an ipod because I don't have the time to download all my music much less remember to bring it to my car for my occasional trips around town (I can walk to work). It is much easier to punch the radio dial if I want music. Plus there are many times when I am stuck in the car (or on foot) and want to listen to a football or baseball game. So yes, AM/FM radio still has a place in my life, Ipod without radio does not.

Similarly I have high speed internet on my phone to access email, nextbus info, flight info, etc. Ipod with glacial internet access is useless to me.

I'm not saying I wouldn't take a look at an all-in-one device, but certainly have no interest in one that doesn't have what I need.

If satellite radio were really smart they would bundle it into these devices instead of the limited crap they try to sell via sprint. But that's another topic for another thread.

Has the LG 'Prada' phone announced for Europe been discussed here? Its full touchscreen front, 8Gb memory and web surfing functionality makes it interesting.
First of the clones? LG KE850 Prada report here.

about the FM radio.
i think that you dont need it . in your car you have a radio.
at home you have a TV + a radio , and you have internet radio.

i had walkmans with radio functions, and i never used the radio.
i think most people buy an ipod for music they want, if you want a radio only you can get very small one without having an ipod.

dp

Regardless of how you feel about the iPhone, let's get one thing straight: unless you're suggesting LG is full of time-travelling engineers and designed from scratch a working phone similar to the iPhone after hearing about its unveiling, calling it a clone is just plain ignorant. The KE850 won a design award back in December at International Forum Design in Hannover, days after it was announced. So don't call it a clone.