Amoi A616 and A636 Music Phones for China

As a way to expand the mobile music market and ward off piracy in China, 3 major firms have collaborated to offer the first ever solution for music phones offering copyrighted music. These are music service provider Kuro; handset manufacturer Amoi; and fabless semiconductor company Spreadtrum Communications.

Under this partnership, Spreadtrum has embedded the music services of Kuro into its chipset so it can have a mobile music download service and a multimedia player. These chips will be first used in Amoi-manufactured music phone models A616 and A636 so consumers can listen to their favorite music and download directly among millions of copyrighted music included in Kuro.

Aside from high sound quality, an original audio file includes photo of the celebrities as well as protection against mobile virus. Moreover, these Amoi music phones simulate the function of a karaoke through its exclusive dynamic lyrics. Mobile users can now practice singing even when they are on the go (though I’m not sure if the people around them can tolerate their pathetic vocal prowess).

These phones also feature a dual-card standby, giving mobile consumers the capability and convenience to use two SIM cards on each handset.

Then again, will the Chinese mobile consumers welcome the concept at all? With piracy practically a way of life in China, will there be significant number of people willing to use these services?