Xpress Music Series & FLAC Support?

Question

I would like to know if Nokia has considered making the Xpress Music Series support FLAC?
I personally own a 5310 and would love to see FLAC support for these phones as well as the other Xpress Music Series.
What are the possibilites here with this?
THANKS

Answer 1

@jjegan and Nokia
1) FLAC is not an obscure format except on phones, because it is FREE and not licensed
2) Licensed codecs increase the resale cost of phones as OEMs like Nokia have to cover licensing costs
3) Perceptual codecs like AAC+ are not perfect. They are ideal for filesize and for the majority of the populous who do not own high-end hifi systems to know what quality of sound is achievable with the right components and DAC chips
4) FLAC is very lightweight processing-wise and easy to implement (small code footprint). It is a mathematically optimized lossless compression of WAV audio and as such, the ideal format that home users who don't trade on quality wish to archive their CDs in. MP3 is lossy and people with suitable systems can hear those losses. Those asking for FLAC on a phone will probably not be using the standard supplied headphones, but high-end after-market ones such as Etymotic ER-4P, which offer studio quality sound.
The only drawback to FLAC is the larger file size. But those seriously in to music are limited by the inbuilt memory or flash-card memory sizes provided with phones at initial point of sale, such that they opt to purchase 32Gb or larger memory cards to install in such phones and thus the storage footprint of FLAC files becomes a non-issue - these people prefer quality over convenience and business-driven culture that aims to tailor a corporate device and tell the consumer market it wants it, rather than listen to the market and provide what is being requested. In this case, there is a huge base asking for FLAC that is persistently ignored. In high-end audio, companies such as Linn, Naim and professional studio companies like Bryston are supplying FLAC compatibility with their DACs (digital to anlaog convertors) because the demand exists for the discerning audio customer. These persons are also the market for FLAC on phones. FLAC is here to stay and it is high-end and it is free. Companies just need to wake up and smell the coffee of demand that exists for it. Demand does exist and it isn't going away and Nokia also have to wake up to this fact.
Perceptual codecs like AAC+ fool the majority of users in to being unable to hear a difference. However, there is a growing body of research to suggest artefacts from such codecs which are hidden in louder music passages (an effect known as "perceptual masking"), may in fact be heard by many people who find the sound 'grating' and annoying. These people also are likely to demand FLAC.
Trying to pass of AAC+ to people demanding FLAC is like trying to pass off a quick-fry steak and telling people it tastes just like fillet steak. It doesn't, fillet is the best steak (IMO). And similarly, FLAC is the best, cheapest and easiest to implement format for lossless encoding of WAV files and Nokia cannot be bothered because the majority of non-discerning convenience-cultured quality-sacrificing others keep telling people to accept a lesser quality.
I for one, don't compromise. If it's between Sony Ericsson with a FLAC phone and Nokia without one, I will opt for the Sony - any compromise will be made by moving away from the company refusing to listen to customer demand or acknowledge a ready-and-waiting customer market.
And @jjegan, a chip already exists for the mobile market that will decode FLAC as well as MP3s, AAC and a whole myriad of other formats like Ogg Vorbis. It does NOT increase the size of the resultant phone. Go over to www.diyaudio.com and you can find many people who have modified devices to play FLAC without increasing size.