. According to the manual, the new high-end RAZR utilizes Windows Media 11 and PlaysForSure, meaning your Yahoo! music subscription will work with the phone.
The idea of carriers opening up their hardware to music from other services isn’t new, Cingular started the trend way back when with its super-sleek, sexy, slender, desirable ROKR, an iTunes-compatible musicphone. The thing was a STNKR, but it did prove that people wanted music on their phones, but didn’t want to be locked into a second music store.
While PlaysForSure is still playing second fiddle to iTunes as far as legit music downloads go, that could change if more carriers and manufacturers start loading their phones up with the non-Apple competitor. PlaysForSure works just like iTunes, the available music is roughly the same, and the quality is just fine. The key, however, is that there are far, far more cellphones than iPods, and if they all worked with the PlaysForSure store of the user’s choice, then it could be the first real threat to iTunes and the iPod.
RAZR maxx For Verizon Hints At New Music Strategy [PhoneScoop]