Nokia to help Microsoft build Zune phone?

Rumours of a Zune phone have been around since Microsoft released its iPod-esque music player last year. They got a boost when Apple released the iPhone too, but now they’re back in full force as speculation mounts that it’ll be Nokia building the hardware behind the all-out assault on Apple.

According to Zunescene, which claims to have “a well placed source within Microsoft,” Nokia is currently working with the Zune team on “integration of Zune Marketplace content.”

That suggests a merger between the Nokia Music Store and the Zune Marketplace, or at least a guarantee of cross-compatibility between the Zune’s download service and Nokia handsets.

Zunescene reckons the Big M is plotting a two-pronged attack against the iPhone, by shovelling Zune branding and content onto Windows Mobile phones, as well as Nokia devices.

There’s also much denial of an actual Zune phone, with an insistence instead that Microsoft’s planning to wage its battle using software alone.

“If there is a Zune phone I don’t know about it,” Zunescene’s source is reported as saying, before going on to shrug off predictions of a launch date for the service with a simple “It’s too soon to say.”

Keep it here for more whispers and espionage from the Zune camp as soon as we hear it.

TBC | £TBC | Microsoft, Nokia (via Zunescene)

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