Japanese Web and telecom conglomerate Softbank Corp. is working with Apple Computer Inc. to develop mobile telephones with built-in iPod music players, Nikkei reported Friday.
The music-playing phones can download songs from Apple's iTunes Music Store, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said in an article posted on its Web site.
A spokesman for Apple in Cupertino, California, was not immediately available to comment.
Last year, Apple and handset maker Motorola Inc. introduced a music-playing cellphone known as the Rokr that has received disappointing reviews for its design and the limited number of songs that can be stored on the device.
Speculation has mounted that Apple is developing its own mobile phone — popularly labeled the iPhone — that will combine the stylish design of its iPod music and video player with mobile phone features.
Pundits from blog rumor sites to Wall Street analysts have speculated on the meaning of a string of patent applications filed by Apple Computer that stretch back several years and could prefigure its ambition to build its own mobile phones.
Product reviewer Walt Mossberg said in a column published in Thursday editions of the Wall Street Journal that Apple is working on projects such as "a media-playing cellphone and a home-media hub," but did not provide details.
