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Nokia: No iTunes for next multimedia mobile
"We want to give the consumer the choice"

By Reuters

Published: Thursday 18 August 2005

Nokia has no agreement with Apple for the iTunes music service to be included on its upcoming N91 multimedia phone, the Finnish phone giant said on Thursday.

But Nokia said because of the design of the new N-series phones, software developers could readily produce programs to allow the gadgets to use services like iTunes.

A spokesman for Nokia's multimedia division said: "There is no commercial agreement between Nokia and Apple to integrate iTunes into the N-series devices.

"But since this is based on a computer platform, anybody - including Apple, if they so wish - can very easily develop this kind of application and offer it to consumers, via the internet, for example."

Finnish daily Taloussanomat had previously reported that Nokia would bring iTunes to the N91 model.

The spokesman said Nokia had already seen such applications in research labs but had not agreed to any commercial deals: "We are not making any exclusive arrangements with any music store but believe that we want to give the consumer the choice of where they want to purchase their music."

Music phones produced by Nokia, the world's number one handset maker, have so far been seen as competitors to Apple's successful iPod device and iTunes service.

Motorola's long-awaited iTunes mobile phone will go on sale with major telecommunications operators by the end of September, the US mobile phone maker said last month.

Nokia unveiled its N91 multimedia phone in April. The device will have a 4GB hard drive to store thousands of songs. The phone, which will also run on high-speed 3G and wireless LAN networks, is due to hit stores by the end of the year.

The N90 multimedia phone is already selling and the N70 version will go on the market next month.