Block on Verizon's Phones Again!!

[Gabriel]

from: http://engadget.com/2006/01/07/micro...reless-phones/

Microsoft blocking MP3s on Verizon Wireless phones?
Posted Jan 7th 2006 11:27AM by Barb Dybwad
Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio

So there seems to be some fallout from Verizon's music download service -- users who choose to "upgrade" their handsets to support the Verizon Wireless music store are doing so at a tradeoff: you'll no longer be able to play MP3s on your phone. The new phone software prevents you from playing MP3s on the phone as a result of an agreement Verizon Wireless made with Microsoft, the latter of whom stipulated that if the Verizon Wireless music store was gonna fly at all, MS wanted to make sure that phones using it could only play back Microsoft's audio format. Supposedly there is an internal memo floating around at VZW Wireless saying that if anyone complains about the new "featureset," they'll be given a refurbished phone with older firmware to "correct" the "problem" -- but that users aren't being warned ahead of time that they'll lose MP3 playing functionality by upgrading their phones. Very tricksy, guys, very tricksy! You know, if the customer didn't always come first with these big corps we'd really be in trouble, folks.

[ADSisson]

From what I have read on other forums, this is not true. MP3s WILL be playable. One just has to enable it via the service menu.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Why doesn't this suprise me?

[matthoff]

From what I have read on other forums, this is not true. MP3s WILL be playable. One just has to enable it via the service menu.

Please link where you read that we can enable it via a service menu.



It appears that an agreement has been made between Microsoft and Verizon to remove the mp3 codec from the SCH-A950 as part of the implementation of the Vcast music service. That is, after you allow Verizon to upgrade the flash roms in the phone, the A950 will no longer be able to play files encoded in the .mp3 format.

Some details are discussed at the link below.

http://www.pcsintel.com/modules.php...order=0&thold=0


Last week Samsung changed the name of the SCH-A950 from "MP3 Maestro" to "Music Maestro". All mention of the phone's mp3 playing capabilities have been removed from the Samsung web site.

http://www.samsung.com/Products/Mob..._A950WRVXAR.asp

[ADSisson]

Please link where you read that we can enable it via a service menu.

Information found at
lg.howardforums.com , VerizonWireless.HowardForums.com

These are just two of them

[SteveHRocks]

Hmmmm. I guess I will wait a while before I have the software in my VX8100 upgraded. No rush anyway since they have YET to get EV-DO coverage in Nashville for some reason (even though its already in the smaller markets of Knoxville and Memphis).

[matthoff]

In looking through the Howard Forums, I don't seem to find a posting that says that the service menu can be used to enable mp3 support after the vcast update. There are a ton of postings there so I could have missed it.

[matthoff]

I found the link.

http://www.howardforums.com/showpost...6&postcount=56

[matthoff]

Details of Vcast service posted by Verizon

http://getitnow.vzwshop.com/index.as...usic_vcast_faq

[pashta]

I just spoke to my Verizon Rep. and she told me that you CAN have both the MP3 player and the VCAST music, but not at the same time. If you want MP3, it will disable the VCAST, and vice versa. No, the new phones do not come with the MP3 feature activated, but there is a way to re-engage that feature. You just cant have the MP3 and the VCAST enabled at the same time.

And thats all I have to say about that.

[matthoff]

I just spoke to my Verizon Rep. and she told me that you CAN have both the MP3 player and the VCAST music, but not at the same time. If you want MP3, it will disable the VCAST, and vice versa. No, the new phones do not come with the MP3 feature activated, but there is a way to re-engage that feature. You just cant have the MP3 and the VCAST enabled at the same time.

And thats all I have to say about that.

This depends on the phone. My understanding is that you can do this with the LG phones using the service menu but cannot do it with the Samsung A950. For the Samsung phone, you either have the mp3 ROMs or the VCast ROMs.

[pashta]

This depends on the phone. My understanding is that you can do this with the LG phones using the service menu but cannot do it with the Samsung A950. For the Samsung phone, you either have the mp3 ROMs or the VCast ROMs.

I had asked her about the samsung specifically, but I will definitely double check on that. I dont want to post anything in error, that doesn't do anybody any good!