Apple Computer is getting ready to enter the cell phone market with a handset built with iPod music player functionality, reported Japanese news agency Nikkei.

The highlight of the new cell phone will feature the ability to directly download songs from Apple's iTunes Music Store. Initially required to connect to personal computers, early next year, the iTunes Music Store will unveil a new service that allows users to download songs directly to cell phones.

Jointly developed with Softbank, a fast-growing Japanese Internet and telecommunications group that said last month it plans buy Vodafone's Japanese mobile phone business; the partnership appears to be using the power of Apple's brand to compete against mobile market leaders NTT DoCoMo and KDDI Corp.

Last year Apple and Motorola introduced an iTunes-compatible cell phone known as the ROKR E1, but sales were disappointing due to an imposed 100 song limit. Added to prevent the ROKR from cannibalizing Apple's own iPod market share, speculation has mounted that it was developing its own cell phone - popularly labeled the iPhone. The new iPod phone is planned to be released in Japan sometime this year at the earliest.