Motorola announced plans Monday to introduce cell phones that use Microsoft’s Windows Media technology. The new phones will be offered alongside phones that use iTunes, according to a Reuters report .
Last year Motorola introduced the Rokr, the first cell phone that features iTunes built in. The phone can connect to a PC or Mac using USB and can transfer up to 100 songs — a limitation that critics complained would hamper the phone’s adoption by consumers who want storage capacity similar to an iPod.
In the U.S., the Rokr offered exclusively by Cingular. Cingular and Motorola recently introduced the Slvr, a thinner model that also features iTunes. Motorola has also announced a variation on its popular Razr flip phone that has iTunes built in.
In announcing the new Windows Media-based phone line, Motorola said it plans to keep its iTunes offerings separate. The Windows Media phones have benefits the iTunes phones do not, however, such as the ability to download music sold by cell phone service providers over the air, rather than through a music download service such as Apple’s iTunes Music Store.