Microsoft's Ballmer dances with Spotify in Windows Mobile deal
Redmond boss descends into mosh pit
Microsoft has inked a deal with Spotify to provide a free app for the Windows Mobile platform.
Redmond announced the agreement, financial terms of which were kept secret, as the company’s boss Steve Ballmer kicked off the start of a five-day European tour in Sweden.
Microsoft said the app was available for punters using Windows Mobile 6.
More significantly for Ballmer and his crew, the Spotify application will soon come loaded with support for the Windows Mobile 7 platform that MS will launch on 11 October.
Spotify has already climbed into bed with iPhone, Symbian and Android – all of which carry apps from the popular music streaming service.
Although the app for Windows Mobile platform is free, users will need to cough up a monthly £9.99 premium subscription for Spotify in order to activate it on their smartphone.
The Spotify service is only currently available in Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, France, Spain and the UK. There are plans to launch the service in the US before the end of the year. ®
COMMENTS
Re: eh?
Would it surprise you to learn that Microsoft has actually learned from its past mistakes? Whereas other well-known tech firms who spend more time in the spotlight these days seem doomed to make the mistakes Microsoft has already learned from.
Zune media service and Spotify media service provided on new WP7 handsets, basically ensures there is choice for the consumer from the outset. Keeps competition healthy. No doubt other media vendors will want to get their own services onto WP7 now to prevent a two-horse race for this platform.
Only a few days to go until you see similar deals for WP7 handsets focusing on other types of service provision.
a title recently
So basically MS/Spotify have agreed a port to windows mobile will be available. I wonder if Spotify have paid MS to get the app distributed on new phones, or more likely MS have bunged them some cash to port a popular app to windows. If the later then it would demonstrate MS's panic that people won't develop apps for the plafrom.
eh?
Isn't this in direct competion with its own Zune service which will also be part of WP7?
Oops
Why would Redmond need to cough up the cash to get Spotify to do a client for WP7 if they've already done a client for every other major mobile platform?
Unless Redmond thought that Spotify thought that WP7 was not going to be a major platform?
