5 Things To Expect From INQ Spotify Phone

It has yet to be announced but one can be sure that INQ is busy designing (or at least integrate) Spotify's popular online music streaming service into its future phones.

As reported during the weekend, Li Ka-Shing, the elusive Hong-kong based Billionaire and owner of both 3 Networks and INQ, has invested tens of millions of dollars into the startup, a move which makes a Spotify Phone or at least one offering built-in Spotify capabilities, a certainty.

What can we expect from such a Spotify phone made by INQmobile?

(a) Low Price

Expect the Spotify Phone to be available for under £100, which will allow it to be offered on £20 per month contracts which may include unlimited Spotify streaming. More importantly, £100 makes it cheaper than an iPod Nano; the cheapest iPod nano, the 8GB model, costs £103 at Amazon. At the same price level, the choice between a simple audio player and one which includes all the bells and whistles is ominously clear.

(b) Touchscreen

A touchscreen costs only about £10 more than a normal screen according to analyst firm iSuppli. We'd be chuffed if INQ could build a Spotify Phone with a 3.5-inch touchscreen - the same size as the iPhone or the iPod Touch.

They are more likely to include a 2.4-inch like the Orange Vegas, or a 3-inch model like the LG Renoir. It would also be the first time that INQ releases a touchscreen phone.