Motorola plans to roll out a subscription-based music service featuring 435 commercial-free radio channels later this year. The company says its iRadio service will work with iRadio-capable devices, such as its Linux-based Rokr E2 mobile phone, also announced today.

Additional iRadio-compatible devices will include home and automotive stereo adapters.

Motorola claims iRadio will deliver better fidelity than satellite-based radio, while offering a wider variety of content. The service will initially feature some 435 commercial-free channels, including 40 rock channels, a dozen channels each of jazz and country, and a variety of “individual musician” and “theme” channels, such as “just broke up” and “angry women.”

iRadio will additionally allow users to identify, purchase, and download songs they discover while using the service, Motorola says, using a PC software application that will be available for Windows XP, and a Bluetooth network transport layer.

Jeff Littlejohn, of Clear Channel Radio, stated, “Motorola iRadio lets us deliver top-rated talk content and custom music channels to listeners wherever they are. We believe iRadio is important, and the service has our unqualified support.”

Actor and musician Billy Bob Thornton stated, “Motorola iRadio is the best thing to happen for variety in music since Jimmy Hendrix opened for the Monkees.”

A September report from research firm In-Stat found that mobile carriers are missing out on digital music revenues, given high consumer interest in using mobile phones as music listening devices.

Availability

Motorola iRadio will be available to users of compatible Motorola phones expected to ship later this year. Users will also need a broadband-connected and USB-equipped PC running Windows XP, Motorola said.

 
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