Well, well, well, Microsoft's trying to muscle into the portable music business by striking a deal with Nokia. Microsoft, which almost missed the coming of the of the Web and the search engine phenomena, is betting it can become a key player in the mobile music game as 3G networks start to flex their power.
Nokia unveiled a new smart phone today that has an integrated music player and stereo output, and it is working with Microsoft to transfer music between mobile devices and PCs.Music on the move seems like a natural move for device makers given cheaper memory makes it a no-brainer. With MP3 players getting smaller, a cool wireless device with a built-in MP3 player would find a big audience.
This does not mean, however, people are going to download music using a wireless connection. It will likely be many years before you hear a song on the radio and impulsively want to buy it online. One of the big hurdles is the music and wireless industry are hell-bent on making juicy margins from a wireless music service. While this makes sense economically, consumers will balk at paying a premium for convenience. Music isn't like ringtones because they don't have the same sense of personalization.

According to Vonage Canada president Bill Rainey, the company will be able to offer consumers the ability to keep their existing telephone numbers in "weeks, if not days". This would be another marketing tool that Vonage could use to lure consumers over to Internet telephony.

So what do you make of the announcement between Motorola and Skype?
At the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes, the two firms unveiled plans to work together on a "co-marketing collaboration that will provide greater connectivity options and access for Skype's more than 25 million registered worldwide users." The first project will be co-marketing Skype software into Motorola hardware such as Bluetooth headsets, dongles and speaker phones.
I didn't see anything about Skype being integrated into Motorola's wireless device. If this kind of thing materializes, it would a major development because Motorola would be sticking it to wireless carriers by providing a way for its user to make free and/or cheap long-distance calls. This would be a good reason for any wireless carrier to drop Motorola for more friendly device makers.
Frankly, I'm not convinced Motorola wants to commit carrier suicide by getting into bed with Skype to that extent. I think Motorola realizes there are other strategic opportunities with Skype that doesn't touch upon the golden goose..a.ka. the wireless device business.

Shaw has finally jumped into the Internet telephony market today with a C$55 a month service that features unlimited calling in North America, six calling features, access to e911 and "professional" installation. At first blush, the service seems expensive - particularly compared with Videotron, which is selling telephony for as low as $15.95 if it's part of a bundle. Shaw's strategy appears similar to Comcast Corp., which rolled out a premium-priced telephony recently that makes Vonage and CallVantage look like Wal-Mart bargains.
Shaw's pricing strategy could be a matter of demand management so it's not swamped by a wave of customers, or it simply believes - a la Comcast - that reliable cable telephony service should be priced as a premium product.
With Shaw's launch, there are now two cable telephony pricing experiments happening - Shaw's premium approach vs. Videotron's discount plans. You can be sure the folks at Rogers, which will unveil its telephony service in July, are watching the situation carefully.