TechWeb.com

(08/30/2005 3:15 PM EDT)

MANHASSET, N.Y. — Initially discussed publically more than a year ago, a Motorola mobile phone that can play Apple Computer’s iTunes software may finally have its formal unveiling Sept. 7 when Apple has scheduled a press conference in San Francisco. ``Here we go again,” states the invitations, ``1,000 songs in your pocket changed everything.``

Ever the brilliant merchandiser, Apple has managed to build up an aura of suspense surrounding the announcement. The Think Secret Web site that specializes in pre-announcing Apple products, said Tuesday that it is expecting Apple to announce “an all-new fifth generation iPod with video playback capabilities.” (In the recent past, Apple has filed charges against Think Secret, which has been operated by Nicholas Ciarelli, a Harvard student.)

In addition, record companies and cell phone service providers have been jockeying to position themselves in the mobile phone music player market with some record companies complaining they want to charge more than Apple does to download some songs. Cell phone service providers, too, have been stating their case to obtain a bigger percentage of the price for downloading songs.

The New York Times said Tuesday (Aug. 30) that it had been told by reliable sources that Cingular Wireless would offer the new Motorola/Apple cellphone/music player. Think Secret said that it also expects Apple to up the capacity of its top iPod to 80 Gbytes.