Motorola to Put iTunes in Cellphones

Apple Computer Inc. will make a slimmed-down version of its iTunes jukebox software that No. 2 cellphone maker Motorola Inc. will install on some of its wireless phones, the companies said Monday.

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs made the announcement via videoconference at an event in Rosemont, Ill., on the eve of Motorola’s annual analyst meeting there.

Jobs also said Mac and Windows users would be able to transfer songs from the iTunes digital jukebox on their computers or from the iTunes online music store, which is integrated into the iTunes software, to the Motorola cellphones, which will go on the market in 2005.

“Wouldn’t it be great if you could take a dozen of your favorite songs with you on your phone,” Jobs said. “We thought it would be great if together Motorola and Apple could give [consumers] a small taste of what this digital music revolution is about.”

Before Jobs appeared on-screen, Motorola CEO Edward Zander, holding up a Motorola cellphone and an Apple iPod digital music player, quipped, “It would be great if we could just figure out a way to bring these two devices together.”

Apple has sold more than 4 million of its wildly popular and market-leading iPod digital music players and more than 100 million tracks on its iTunes online music store since the store was launched in April 2003.