Music Store by Sony Ericsson, Official

LONDON -- Mobile-phone maker Sony Ericsson yesterday hit back at rivals Apple Inc. and Nokia Corp., unveiling plans for its own Internet music portal and introducing three new handsets.

Sony Ericsson, a joint venture between Sony Corp. and Telefon AB LM Ericsson, plans to release the upgraded PlayNow service next spring, adding millions of new music tracks from major record labels.

Until now, Sony Ericsson has only offered music downloads via its handsets from Sony BMG Music Entertainment, a joint venture of Sony and Bertelsmann AG.

Sony Ericsson expects to start a music service for computers and mobile handsets in the second quarter of 2008, after gaining support from the three other major record labels -- Vivendi's Universal Music Group, EMI Group PLC and Warner Music Group Corp.

"The situation today is that we have offers on the table of 5 million music tracks, as a first step, from all the majors, as well as local and independent labels," said Sony Ericsson's Martin Blomkvist, head of content acquisition and management.

A number of analysts have expected Sony Ericsson -- known for pioneering music phones through its Walkman-branded handsets -- to face increasing competition from Nokia, which recently started its own music store, and Apple's music-playing iPhone, which starts selling in Europe on Friday.

Sony Ericsson said it will sign agreements with different record labels and offer different music tracks depending on the market and mobile-phone operator preferences. It plans to share revenue with mobile-phone operators from the music downloads, as well as sales of computer games, ring tones and phone wallpapers.

The London mobile-phone maker is also making the content available in MP3 and Windows Media digital rights management, or DRM-enabled formats, meaning music can be used on other brand devices that are compatible with those technology standards.

While Sony Ericsson declined to say how much it will charge for music tracks, Mr. Blomkvist said the service will be "competitively priced" for each market, with consumers able to pay via their mobile-phone bill or a payment card.

"The current PlayNow service is set up in 29 countries and we have 100 revenue-sharing agreements in place," he said. "By adopting an open platform, we want to take down as many barriers as possible."

Sony Ericsson also unveiled three new handsets, including two new Walkman-branded music phones.

The W890 Walkman phone, which is capable of storing about 1,800 songs and includes an FM radio and a 3.2-megapixel camera, will be available in the first quarter of 2008. The more basic W380 model with 512 megabits of memory, FM-radio and a 1.3 megapixel camera will also be available early next year.

The company also launched the K660 mobile broadband phone, designed for Internet browsing, with a 2 megapixel camera.

by Daniel Thomas for WJC