Apple iTune Phone Coming

Motorola and Apple will release a phone in the first half of 2005 that plays songs purchased from Apple's online iTunes service, according to an Apple executive quoted by Forbes Thursday.

While precise details of the device remain sketchy, Forbes quoted Eddy Cue, Apples' vice president in charge of applications, as saying the phone was close to being released.

"We've said we have something coming on this in the first half of 2005 and we're definitely on schedule for that," Forbes quoted Cue as saying. "Hopefully you'll be able to see more about it soon."

Cue added that this will be a mid-priced device and is designed to be easy to use.

"What we've talked about is a something that is valuable for the mass market," Cue said. "It has to be a phone in the middle-tier of the market, not a $500-tier phone. It has to be very seamless to use. And we're very happy with the results."

The two companies talked publicly about such a device last summer, saying the device would connect both to Windows and Macintosh computers. However, this is the first mention that the device actually has been developed and is on schedule to be released.