By LAURENCE FROST AP Business Writer
CANNES, France (AP) -- With a covetous eye on the success of portable music players, mobile phone makers are going after would-be iPod buyers by building high-quality players into their handsets.
Sony Ericsson announced Monday it would soon market music-player mobiles under its parent's Walkman brand, drawing on the music catalogue of a sister company, Sony BMG, the world's No. 2 record company.
And Nokia Corp., the world's leading phone maker, announced an alliance with Microsoft Corp. to allow mobile subscribers to load music from a PC onto their phones _ much the way that a digital music player works.
Unlike owners of dedicated MP3 players, Nokia users will also be able to download tracks directly onto their handsets through the wireless phone network and transfer them to computer for storage or burning onto a CD.
At a news conference on the first day of the 3GSM World Congress, a major mobile industry gathering on the French Riviera, Nokia also unveiled a new "3G" phone with an integrated music player and high-quality stereo output.
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