iTunes Cell Phone Reportedly Nigh

Apple

(AAPL) - Get Report

and

Motorola

(MOT)

will unveil a new cell phone that plays music from the iTunes online jukebox as early as next week, published reports said Tuesday.

The phone will be sold by Cingular, the wireless venture of

SBC

(SBC)

and

BellSouth

(BLS)

, various stories said.

Prospects for a U.S. launch in the third quarter of 2005 were

reported last month.

Cell phones represent a key battleground of the digital-music war, with Apple seeking a beachhead from which it can protect the hegemony of its ultra-successful iPod franchise. Cingular is expected to make the phone available in time for Christmas.

Apple is also on the verge of announcing a version of its iPod Mini that uses flash memory instead of a disk drive, the

Wall Street Journal

reported.