Coming to a cell phone near you: mobile karaoke
Have you ever had the urge to beltout a tune but, alas,
there were no karaoke bars in sight? In what may be
classified as American Idol judge Simon Cowell’s worst
nightmare, Sharp Corp. and Toshiba Corp. have co¬
developed a new mobile handset that moonlights as a portable karaoke machine. The phones, which will go on
sale in Japan this summer, are karaoke-enabled through a
new service. from Vodaphone K.K. called V-kara. Through
the service, users can download Karaoke files. The phones
can also connect to television sets to create a more
“home karaoke machine” experience. Pricing has not
been released, however users can expect to pay roughly
US$0.35 per downloaded song. Quirky fact: In 2002 there
were approximately 477,000 licensed karaoke machines
in bars, hotels and karaoke rooms across Japan, which
attracted an estimated 48 million customers.
Source: Network World
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