Moto Blasts iRadio

Back in October Motorola began talking up its iRadio service. Now the RED HERRING reports Motorola has unveiled more details of its plan to take on the radio and MP3 player markets. Motorola will "demonstrate its iRadio service on a number of cell phones, including the recently announced ROKR E2."

According to the article "Motorola’s iRadio will look a lot like a fit for the MP3 market with the ability to download songs off the Internet for later play. But with 435 commercial-free radio channels and a monthly subscription fee, iRadio also looks a lot more like satellite radio."

iRadio subscribers will also be able to "listen to radio programs on their home stereos and car stereos using iRadio and Bluetooth wireless technology."

Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin wondered "what happens when a potential subscriber insists on using a non-Motorola music-enabled phone." Motorola will also need cooperation from the network operators, such as Cingular and Verizon.

Golvin said, "iRadio is not going to be warmly embraced by Cingular, Verizon, or T-Mobile if it’s only available to their customers with Motorola phones."

As I have harped on numerous times, pricing for the service will be critical. No details have been given but Motorola has said in the past the service will cost less than $10 a month. Rumors are it will be close to $7.99.
Unless it's closer to $5 a month you can count me out. That seems to be my subscription service pricing barrier, and is the same amount I pay each month for my DirecTivo service. My litmus test is unless any of these new mobile services can provide more value than my Tivo, I won't go above 5 bucks a month....