As I’m sure you noticed recently, T-Mobile UK have launched their music download service. I haven’t yet managed to look at it, but it looks reasonably good — particularly the dual download phone/PC offering.
T-Mobile are advertising the service with one of their latest Sony Ericsson handsets, the W880i — a reasonably handsome looking device. Until you put your headphones into it.
What absolute IDIOT at Sony Ericsson’s handset department is still vomitting out these STUPID designs?
No wonder the world is fawning over Apple’s iPhone.
The source of my total annoyance is the FLIPPIN GREAT HEADSET ADAPTER that completely spoils the line of the handset.
1920s technology plugged into a really good handset.
It’s absolutely RIDICULOUS.
Patently STUPID.
I really don’t know how these people are allowed to flop these sort of after-thoughts out into the marketplace.
On the T-Mobile site’s Music page, their designers have sensibly negated to include the shitty looking headset adapter in the photo of the handset:
By the way, to calm me down, I sat and read the T-Mobile advice on how to use their Jukebox service. It’s nice to see someone’s got an idea of how to music on the mobile.
Here’s how quick and easy it is to download new tunes:
* 11.15am You’re catching the bus to the high street with your mate on a Saturday
* 11.17am Your friend tells you they saw ‘The So and Sos’ perform their new single on ‘Transmission with T-Mobile’ last night and it’s really catchy
* 11.18am You happen to be a massive fan of ‘The So and Sos’ (especially that scruffy-but-cute bass player) so you whip out your mobile, click the ‘Mobile Jukebox’ icon, browse to the track and click ‘Download’
* 11.20am It’s yours! You have a listen (yep, it’s catchy alright!) and you end up humming it all day
But Sony Ericsson?
100% ridiculous.
Shouldn’t that be..
11.18am You happen to be a massive fan of ‘The So and Sos’ (especially that scruffy-but-cute bass player) so you whip out your mobile, click the ‘Mobile Jukebox’ icon, browse to the track and click ‘Download’
11.19am You lose signal, even though everyone else around you seems to be fine.
11.20am Reception comes back, but there appears to be no data connection.
11.21am Data returns, but it’s not going anywhere
11.23am After waiting a couple of minutes, the track starts to download. But it’s going like treacle
11.55am The whole damn thing crashes, as you curse why you ever believed Web’n’Walk would actually work reliably. You instead head off to your local branch of Virgin Megastore and pick up the CD instead, and you end up humming it all day once you’ve got it home, ripped it and thrown it onto your phone
I have this phone, and just use a pair of stereo bluetooth headphones instead.
voila, no huge headset adapter.
I tried downloading a song from the T-Mobile service, the 1Mb mobile file downloading in under a minute in the background, the phone then unlocked the DRM and it worked. Not fantastic sound quality but good nonetheless.
Shame then that the PC download (which is handily waiting for you to download on the T-Mobile Music site) is a protected WMA, which doesn’t work on the phone. Or my iPod. Or my iBook. Or my Vista PC (although that’s another problem entirely). Works fine on my mates XP PC and his Archos MP3 player. Good thing we both like the song i guess!
whe w880i is NOT shit, its one of the slimmest 3g handsets available, the menu system is cool, funtions are top notch. the keys are pretty small i admit that, i love it though.
(yes, i am a SE fanboy!)