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You are here: Home / RIM / How About An iTunes Client For the BlackBerry?

How About An iTunes Client For the BlackBerry?

May 7, 2007 by Robb Dunewood 28 Comments

I was just reading a post about how much better the BlackBerry Media Player is on the Curve than it is on the BlackBerry 8800 and the BlackBerry Pearl. This is all find and dandy, however, the bigger issue for me, and my guess, millions of BlackBerry users, is that all of our digital music is in iTunes.

Sure, I could burn all 1457 songs that I have bought in the passed 4 or 5 years to CD then rip them back to MP3 so that I could stick them on the Pearl or the 8300 when it comes out, but come on, how hard could it actually be for Apple and RIM to build an iTunes Player for the BlackBerry?

If they could get iTunes working on the Motorola Rokr, surely they could get it to work on the BlackBerry.

iTunes for BlackBerry

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Comments

  1. Aaron says

    May 8, 2007 at 10:58 am

    Are you asking this, so that the BlackBerry Curve can Sync with iTunes, and you can import and export playlists that you previously created on your iTunes on your PC and MAC?

    I do know that the .m4p files are not recognized on the Pearl, so the protected AAC files you previously purchased on iTunes won’t work. I do know non-DRM AAC files -do- work.

    This brings about the question as to what will actually happen to the iTunes songs you purchased with DRM, and whether it will allow itself to be played on new MP3 devices..

    Reply
  2. Robb Dunewood says

    May 8, 2007 at 11:43 am

    I know for sure that the only way to play your DRM protected files in your iTunes playlist on something other than a BlackBerry is to burn them to an .iso image (CD) and then rip them back to MP3.

    I would like for RIM and Apple to come out with an iTunes client for the BlackBerry so that I don’t have to go through this process.

    I would be more than happy to pay for this client and use on of the 5 iPod registrations.

    Reply
  3. Aaron says

    May 8, 2007 at 12:21 pm

    Robb,

    I’ve played with the ROKR, and the iTunes client was a java program.

    Now, perhaps it was a problem with the Motorola OS, but because the iTunes client was a seperate program, I couldn’t do certain stuff on the phone, like go on the internet, or send a text message, while the client was running.

    I do know that the BlackBerry OS can have multiple programs running at once. And the Media Player on the Curve is sweeter than the Pearl.

    Anyways, you’re right with a nice client. It can make or break a device.

    What I really want is an in-depth article about the Curve’s media player and how it works with someone who primarily uses iTunes on their PC. Perhaps you can email RIM and ask for a Verizon version of the Curve, to ‘Test’ and report. I’m sure you have enough pull to do that.

    Reply
  4. Mark says

    May 8, 2007 at 1:07 pm

    I’m sure RIM would be willing to integrate iTunes support into the BlackBerry. I’m sure most cell phone companies would love to. It’s not Apple’s style to do that though. Especially now with the iPhone coming out I would be really amazed to see Apple allowing other cell phones to sync with iTunes protected content. Of course now that you can purchase some songs without protection they should be able to be played on a BB without any problems.

    Reply
  5. Robb Dunewood says

    May 8, 2007 at 1:31 pm

    When you think about it, there really is no downside for Apple. The iTunes client in phones like the Rokr and Razr are java clients which should be able to ported over to the BlackBerry.

    If Apple is worried about loss of of actul iPod sales due to consumers opiting to play music on their BlackBerrys instead of the iPod, they could always charge for the iTunes BlackBerry Client. In fact, Apple would see much higher margins on a iTunes client for the BlackBerry as compared to an actual ipod.

    Once the software is written, pretty much whatever Apple makes on it is gravy compared to the hardware costs of the iPod.

    Reply
  6. Anonymous says

    May 8, 2007 at 1:38 pm

    There is a huge downside to Apple. They would sell fewer iPods. Why would Apple do anything to make themselves make less money? That just doesn’t make sense.

    Reply
  7. Nelson R. says

    May 8, 2007 at 1:46 pm

    I think that you may have missed the point the author made. Make up for any decreases in iPod sales by charging for the BlackBerry iTunes Client.

    When a $200 iPod Nano is sold $200 doesn’t just go into the pockets of Apple. There are manufacturing costs, shipping costs, reseller costs…. More like $15 to $20 goes Apple’s way.

    Apple would just have to charge more for the software client than what they receive per device when a consumer opts to play music on their BlackBerry as compared to buying an iPod.

    Reply
    • tinman says

      July 5, 2010 at 1:48 pm

      Apple makes more than $20 for each ipod sold. Where did you come up with that info? Besides the phone AT&T might not like this either. They’d lose business.

      Reply
  8. Thought says

    May 10, 2007 at 12:21 am

    I think many underestimate the profit margins that Apple enjoys on its iPod products. Most analysts tab their profit margin at anywhere from about 35 to 50%. Remember, this is Apple we are all talking about, and they are amazing at commanding huge profit margins in their industries.

    Bottom line is that there is no way Apple could charge enough for an iTunes BB client to make up for a lost iPod sale, on a one to one basis.

    The only way Apple makes more money is on those who would pay for the iTunes client on a BB but who otherwise would not purchase an iPod, or who would have an iPod anyway.

    Then there’s the further complication of the iPhone: this is one more reason for Apple to keep iTunes exclusive to Apple hardware only. Not only does Apple not want to take away from iPod sales, but they don’t want to undercut iPhone sales.

    So sure it would be great to have iTunes on a BB, but I just don’t see Apple allowing it.

    Reply
  9. Wild Bill says

    July 2, 2007 at 2:15 pm

    Mmm. A few assumptions:

    My iPod is a 30gb Video one – and still isnt big enough for all my music. I could separate it into 4gb chips, but that would involve unplugging the battery and switching the memory card. Which *most* folks would not want to do on a regular basis.

    So lets assume that someone can do a “sync” tool that would:

    1. Identify your iTunes music and read in the iTunes library (not hard – its in XML).

    2. Find the files, and be able to distinguish between protected and unprotected ones.

    3. Find the BlackBerry media “card”, identify what tunes are on there, and then syncronise a limited “playlist” from iTunes to the BlackBerry. This may include podcasts (the only really volatile content on most folks iPods).

    4. As a nice to have, I’d love to see if I can get the iPod video ported over to the blackberry. The curve in particular has a beautiful screen.

    5. If your BlackBerry is “old school” – without a thumbwheel for instance – then it may not be supported.

    Now. If that set of assumptions were okay to be getting on with – would you pay $10 for that ?

    I’ll get writing now…

    —* Bill

    Reply
  10. Andrea says

    July 7, 2007 at 1:15 am

    If you have a mac, use a program called DRM dumpster, which requires a cd-rw. If you set the specs right, it will put them in a pearl compatible format. I used it on about 130 songs, or so, and it took about three hours, if I remember correctly. Sure, it can be time consuming. But it’s a rather simple process, and is so worth it in the end.

    Reply
  11. bicard says

    September 14, 2007 at 12:12 pm

    i ran into the same problem; wanting to transfer my itunes drm stuff only to find that it wont work on anything except an ipod. i am tired of all the drm stuff as it makes me unable play the stuff i bought from itunes when i want to or on some apple device that is not convenient. I think i am going to find some way to break the drm in itunes so i can listen to my songs.

    Reply
  12. Konrad Roeder says

    October 28, 2007 at 1:24 am

    Yes, an iTunes client would be nice.

    I have a Blackberry Curve 8230 (T-Mobile). I will give up my blackberry and switch to AT&T from T-Mobile to buy an iPhone so that I can access their iTunes because the Curve has all the things I need – MP3, Wi-Fi and UMA and a bunch more features. Best of all it has keys. You can’t type very fast with your two thumbs on a touch screen.

    I can download iTune podcasts (AAC Files and MPEG Audio Files), iTunes plus songs that I’ve purchased (purchased AAC files), but not the protected AAC files by copying and pating from iTunes into my E:music drive on my blackberry over the USB connection.

    I have paid 30 cents per file to have many of the protected AAC’s converted to purchased AAC’s, but I can’t wait until they liberate more of the iTunes library. You can see the file types if you enable the kind column on the iTunes header line by right-clicking on it.

    I think that Apple is missing out on a potential market by trying to create an air of exclusivity by only selling iPhone through AT&T, only selling iTunes clients to machines with certain browsers, etc. In the meantime, I’m looking for other alternatives to download my songs from other companies that are more friendly.

    Reply
  13. Mike says

    November 11, 2007 at 4:12 pm

    Does anyone know of a decent client just to transfer ripped .m4a files onto the 8310? The Roxio media manager is horrible.

    I’m not that concerned about protected content, I can live without that, I just need a good way to pick the 2 GB work of ripped CD content and start the transfer and let it go, with Roxio it’s a torturously slow select-drag-wait cycle that I have no patience for.

    Reply
  14. tomypost says

    January 14, 2008 at 9:47 pm

    You can use NoteBurner (http://www.noteburner.com) to convert all your purchased iTunes music to MP3 format, then could be played on Blackberry.

    Reply
  15. Kenneth Kaufman says

    February 28, 2008 at 10:40 am

    hmmm…

    I just purchased a Blackberry Curve 8310. I have 12,000 songs, probably 11,000 ripped from CD’s. Although I like the phone and keyboard and Web features, I am really beginning to think I made the wrong choice. What is another $100 bucks really? Had I known at the time of purchase, that this device doesn’t sync with iTunes, I would have purchased a Motorola Q, which does.

    I find it amusing that I bought this phone to replace an outdated Motorola SLVR, I seem to have made a poor choice.

    I am willing to put up with a certain amount of grief… But they may as well not even bother putting in a music player that doesn’t sync with iTunes…Certainly some marketing types heads should roll for this call…

    Reply
  16. Corby Johnston says

    May 25, 2008 at 9:29 am

    Problem solved with the new Blackberry Bold scheduled for release in Canada on Rogers summer 2008. According to RIM’s site, itunes integration is a feature.

    Reply
  17. woodeng says

    May 28, 2008 at 12:25 pm

    You can use TuneClone (http://www.tuneclone.com) to batch convert M4P to MP3 and then you can import the MP3 to BlackBerry.

    TuneClone uses a virtual cd burner for converting the music files. Compared with using real disc, it is faster. Moreover, this cute software can keep the artist , title and album information completely. It can even save the artwork s of the album.

    Great tools for iTunes users if you have more than hundreds M4P files need to be converted.

    Reply
  18. hong says

    July 20, 2008 at 10:48 am

    how do i convert itune songs to a blackberry pearl with desktop manager because when i click and drag the songs to memory card for the device it goes but it doesn’t play on my phone i think it is protected so how do i fix it?

    Reply
  19. marked12345 says

    August 27, 2008 at 4:53 pm

    Check out nuTsie.com, your iTunes library on your Blackberry.

    Reply
  20. Alan says

    October 23, 2008 at 7:48 pm

    maybe its just me . . . but I like to save my battery for talking XD

    Reply
  21. scott says

    October 23, 2008 at 8:30 pm

    I downloaded and ran BlackBerryMediaSync.exe. Its runs, unzips files, “deletes temporary files” and then closes. What is it supposed to do –if anything?

    Reply
  22. Striker says

    November 3, 2008 at 5:05 pm

    It has been a while since the last comment was made, but I thought I would add my two-cents anyhow.

    I think that having an iTunes.jad would be a GREAT idea, because not only does it allow you to sync your itunes folders, but it also gives you access to over 15,000 online radio stations.

    Now, I do not know about some of you, but having Unlimited Internet for $9.99 a month on my BB plus my Favorite Streaming station (Chronix) hooked up to my Car Stereo while going down the road sounds F****** awesome.

    Reply
  23. Jason says

    January 16, 2009 at 3:37 pm

    Here are some instructions on how to use blackberry with iTunes

    http://lambotech.blogspot.com/2009/01/how-to-turn-your-blackberry-curve-into.html

    Reply
  24. Serena says

    February 26, 2009 at 4:07 pm

    Have you tried doubleTwist yet? (http://www.doubletwist.com). Right now the Mac version is available in beta but the PC is coming out soon. It makes it really easy to get your iTunes library on your Bberry.

    Reply
  25. dug says

    March 8, 2009 at 12:07 pm

    I have a bb storm is itunes available for me

    Reply
  26. Meeka says

    February 20, 2010 at 2:14 am

    Has anyone made a way for blackberry 9700 to download Itunes? If not now hope soon!

    Reply
  27. m4v converter says

    November 9, 2010 at 1:51 am

    sure , you can get your iTunes music to Blackberry using burning and ripping method , but it is really a time consuming process ,which may takes hours to finish. however, it is the only legal way to do that.

    Reply

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