Google had been shopping a licensed, subscription-based deal to the labels without much success. Amazon’s launch seems to have forced Google’s hand, and they decided to march on without their cooperation. Jamie Rosenberg, director for digital content for Android, said “a couple major labels” were responsible for the deal never materializing, insisting their terms did not allow the development of a sustainable product.

Billboard points the finger at Sony and Universal:

“Sources tell Billboard that Sony Music Group and Universal Music Group proved the bottlenecks in this case. Google wanted to offer a scan-and-match style locker service — where instead of uploading different copies of the same track to store in a locker for each users, the service would scan users’ libraries and match the songs they own to a centralized server, paying rightsholders for each stream.”

But whoever is to blame, both Google and Amazon’s services bring intriguing legal questions to mind. The two Web giants believe they don’t need licenses because the service they provide is simply a digital storage “locker,” storing content the user already owns. Rosenberg likened it to the “way that you would put songs on an iPad or you would put songs on a backup hard drive.”

And it’s true; much in the way that Apple doesn’t require a license to have users import their own music (say, ripped from a CD) into iTunes, iPhones, iPods and iPads, Google argues that they don’t need one either.

Additionally, there’s no way to determine if that music was purchased new, bought at a used record store, copied from a friend or downloaded via Bit Torrent. Even with digital watermarking and spectral analysis, it’s currently impossible to determine the legality of digital music sourced from physical CDs. Early album leaks are an exception, since advance copies have watermarks are unique to each person they are sent to. Digitally purchased files can easily be linked to the account–and concordantly, the person–they were purchased by, but CDs cannot.

Since mp3s ripped from retail CDs are by far the most common files on P2p networks, it doesn’t seem like Google (or Amazon, for that matter) will be able to prevent users from putting their pirated music on their servers. So far the labels haven’t had much of a response other than to say they were “disappointed and exploring their legal options.”

Music pirates aside, Google’s lack of major label licenses has forced them to reimagine their player as a companion to music retailers rather than become one themselves. In this regard, Amazon—with their a la carte deal from the labels already in place—has the clear advantage.

The deal that Google shopped to the labels was based on the all-you-can-eat subscription model, rapidly catching on in Europe with Spotify (U.S. based efforts like Rhapsody have not). The UK-based cloud music service charges 10 euro a month to stream everything to virtually any device, but it’s currently unavailable in the U.S. and has experienced resistance from the labels, much like Google. In response to the labels’ cash demands for the free version of Spotify, the company has been slowly scaling back access for non-paying users, something Google could consider if Spotify successfully launches in the U.S.

Google’s beta launch still gives them time to work out their subscription model with the labels, and looming digital music giant Apple’s $1B data center earmarked for iTunes and Mobile Me hints at their own cloud music service. Even cloud storage startup Dropbox offers a similar service (they can play cloud-stored music and video on mobile devices) and could theoretically compete in the cloud storage media player space.

Expect these services to evolve rapidly over the next couple of years, as the labels are dragged kicking and screaming into the future of digital music sales.

• Apple adds EMI Music to group of major labels signed on for cloud service
• Apple finally offers DRM-free song downloads for iPhone 3G over 3G
• Who needs iTunes Match? Apple’s new cloud music service is for the nerds
• HP in talks with labels about cloud music service
• Free Amazon Cloud Drive, Amazon Cloud Player for Android launched

But fret not, American customers: Nokia has just announced its plans to come up with “advanced UMTS mobile devices” that will initially be released in North America.

Said devices are actually Symbian S60 smartphones, and they will be manufactured in collaboration with Qualcomm. More exactly, they’ll use Qualcomm’s MSM7xxx-series and MSM8xxx-series chipsets, which can provide advanced processing performance and mobile broadband capabilities. 

There aren’t too many details at the moment, but Nokia says the first handsets built together with Qualcomm will be launched in mid-2010. Also, they will “be compatible with the forthcoming Symbian Foundation platform”.

Well, let’s hope the future North American handsets will be in the vein of Nokia N97 or the just-announced Nokia N86 8MP.

Via Nokia

• Nokia reportedly launching Snapdragon based Symbian phone this year
• Nokia E5 coming to North America, Australia?
• Nokia to launch Qualcomm-based Symbian smartphone for AT&T
• #MWC10: €100 Symbian smartphones promised for later this year
• Nokia E72, E52, N97 mini and other Symbian smartphones receive new software updates

LG FM 37 is apart of “Chocolate AV Touch me series� that for now include DVD Micro Audio (FB162), a 2.1 Ch Mini Home Theatre System (J10HD), a Touch Screen MP3 Player (FM 37) and a Portable DVD player (DP 281).

Source: LG Singapore

• Verizon’s LG Chocolate Touch VX8575 gets pictured?
• LG KF600 with InteractPad- that’s what Chocolates will become
• Archos 5g Internet Media Tablet comes with Wi-Fi, 3.5G HSDPA and more
• LG BL40 Chocolate starts shipping in Europe
• Apple iPod/iPhone as a remote control for Apple Media Centre

Zenum Technologies knows that are are betting on exceptional design. One of their cool looking products, Zenum Opus Operis PDA Phone should be released soon, probably during Cebit 2007 next week.

And now the Swiss upstart has another beauty in the works. An MP3/MP4 player called Zenum Organum.

Slated for the end of 2007 release, Zenum Organum features:

Support for MP3, ASF, WMA and WAV formats
Built in MIC/ USB2.0
1.8″ color display 128*180 matrix
JPG, BMP, support multi picture view function
2GB of storage capacity
Multi language support (English/Spanish/French)

While overall specs for Zenum Organum are not that impressive, the looks are. Let’s see whether that will be enough.

Source: Zenum

• Zenum Opus Operis PDA Phone coming soon, probably during CeBit
• Zenum OPUS PDA Phone In May. OPUS 3G Next Year
• AT&T’s Pantech Matrix PRO now official
• "Vaporware" gets real: Zenum Opus PDA phone launching tomorrow, Art Lebedev’s Optimus Maximus in 3 days
• Nokia N75 Nseries cellphone/multimedia computer launched