Cingular's music plans

Cingular Wireless is expected to announce a new online music service in partnership with several online music services including Napster, Yahoo Music and eMusic, according to an article published Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal.

The story cited sources "familiar with the matter," and said that the service would allow cell phones to double as music players. Initially, songs will only be able to be downloaded from a computer, but eventually the service could offer over-the-air downloads, the article said.

Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel, Cingular's two biggest rivals, already offer services that allow people to download songs over the air onto their cell phones.

Teaming up with these other music services is a somewhat curious strategy for Cingular, given the company is also rumored to be working with Apple Computer on a new iPod phone called the iPhone. Speculation on the iPhone has reached a fever pitch recently, with the blogosphere predicting it will debut as early as January.

Adding weight to these rumors is Cingular's current relationship with Apple. Last year, it became the exclusive provider for the Motorola Rokr phone, which is one of a few phones that plays audio tracks purchased from the iTunes Store.

Cingular isn't commenting right now on rumors of the music store, nor is it saying anything about the iPhone. But the mobile carrier is trying to make it clear that it hasn't severed ties with Apple.

That said, Cingular PR folks confirmed the company is getting ready for a big announcement on Thursday.