At the BlackBerry Developer Conference last month, a really great new app called Kik made quite the splash, claiming that they would be offering DRM-free MP3 downloads directly from the device, on top of three free plays per track, with additional listening facilitated by audio ads. It was easily the best pitch of the Developer Challenge, and due to the overwhelming reaction, they were shy about showing more of the app to us after the conference. Luckily, Kik has recently posted their demo, so you can see what it’s all about.
The developers originally worked on an alternative media player called Unsynced, which is still very much at the heart of Kik, but considering the angle Livingston was taking, I’d like to see some music ID software included in there, like Midomi or Shazam. 7Digital walked away with the big prize with their similar app, hinging mostly on Kik’s shaky position on licensing, but if Kik can deliver on their promises of free plays and have a sizable library to search, they may be the mobile music store to beat.
In a recent newsletter (which you can sign up to receive at their placeholder site), Kik has confirmed that they’re still on for launching their beta in Canada starting January, with U.S. availability shortly thereafter. The update also alluding to a Napster partnership, desktop application, and some kind of instant messaging aspect. It’ll be interesting to see what these guys offer after the holidays…