When Microsoft can steal the thunder with a one page website, with nothing on it, you know something has gone terribly wrong.

When company press releases are about accessories, colors, and feature announcements (we should have had from the start) something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

No, it’s not Apple’s fault all alone. We as a society it seems are coming out of the iPod trance.

The iPod will give us video and touch screens and forever be the icon, but mobile phones are giving us touch screens, video and music all the same.

For iPod to survive it needs to be seen as a lifestyle device not simply a media player. The iPod also must have content. We are in the era of the PSP, the Nintendo DS, Windows Mobile and 8GB hard drives on mobiles.

It is time for the iPod to grow up. We have asked for it long enough. We want iPod phones and we want iPod video. We want it so bad that people are creating false images, news outlets are reporting false stories. It’s getting bad.

These items must come if the iPod is to stay on the playing field. Apple must change the public perception of the iPod as to what it is as a device into something greater or Apple will have it’s number retired and the iPod sent to the Hall of Fame.

Yes, I know iPods are still selling, but the market is evolving and as I have revealed in the earlier portions of this long tirade, it is only a matter of time before the next “RAZR” is an iPod killer.

Why wait until then? Adapt now ahead of the curve. Produce phones. Evolve past audio. Completely.

Not simply emblazon iTunes on another manufacturers handset, but work to evolve the device into something which captures the times and presses us forward all in one fell swoop the same was done with the iPod…in the beginning.

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(BigBerries) It’s all about position, timing and key relationships. Even more than Motorola, Sony Ericsson (SE) is moving into music in a major way.

From the looks of it they are moving into position in every price point, which, as it seems an opportunity that few handset makers are taking.

Not only that, Sony Ericsson is giving each price point a piece of the action. Action, meaning features and Sony Ericsson is developing feature phones for every budget, so far both cameras and music.

Complete video can only be so far down the line. If one was to speculate I’d say SE has been watching what prompts consumers to buy and has been taking notes from both Motorola and Apple and advancing key concepts.

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It’s everywhere. If it’s not near you believe me it’s coming. Mobile media. Videos and music everywhere you go. The carriers, the handset manufacturers, the television and radio giants are all in or getting in on it.

Even Google and Microsoft are in on it. More importantly, Bill Gates has stated without question that mobile phones will take the place of the iPod.

That means its serious business, which means Apple (in particular the iPod) needs to adjust. Fast. It’s been happening at a rapid fire pace, agreements between rival companies, across platforms and industries.

Nokia this week, Cingular and Yahoo the next, merging technologies, collaborating, building networks and establishing position to provide feature rich services in the form of videos games and music.

Handset makers know what I’m going to say next is the truth. Music. Video Media (including pictures) and Smartphones are the end all for the next five years.

The manufacturers must milk each enterprise separately and as long as possible until consumers demand all-in-one devices, which operate at what would be considered today’s bleeding edge standards.

Don’t believe me. Take having a camera on a phone for instance.

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It’s a dead pod walking. The Big Body’s (I’ll explain later) are at least. Don’t believe me, go right ahead.

A few months ago we were brainwashed and swept away with the euphoric notion of Motorola and Apple coming together, creating a near orgasmic experience with a RAZR iPod hybrid.

What did we get? The ROKR E1, a phone that was practically laughed at every venue and lauded in every review.

However, still under the RAZR’s spell we believed, since it was a first run it would get better.

Now since then Sony Ericsson (SE) has begun creating the best devices in this category.

SE I believe is quietly positioning themselves to steal the thunder from both Motorola and Apple. You question my sanity? Let’s discuss.

Now before I get to the death of the iPod I’m going to chart the course and I’ll start with Motorola.

I’ll then pass along through the present state of the mobile phone industry and the building giant that is Sony Ericsson and then I’ll paint the Picasso of a finish. Oh what a bloody mess this will be.

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