Nokia has unveiled its 3250 music phone, pitching the device as a direct competitor to the Motorola Rokr that features a special version of Apple's iTunes music player. 

The new Nokia handset is the first under the maker's XpressMusic brand that will identify mobile phones designed to listen to music.

In addition to competing with the Rokr, Nokia's 3250 could also take on Apple's iPod music player, according to Gerry Purdy, a principal analyst with MobileTrax.

"I'm very positive about the fact that we see a lot of phone developers incorporating music and thereby giving the iPod a run for its money," he told vnunet.com.

Although the 3250 requires the user to transfer music through a cable just like the iPod, mobile music handsets could let consumers download music directly onto the device, said Purdy.

The 3250 allows users to quickly switch between phone, music and camera modes by twisting the bottom end of the phone. The keys used to navigate the menu and to hang up and answer calls remain on the front side of the telephone at all times.

The portion of the phone below these keys swivels, with one side offering numeric keys while the back side has audio controls including pause, play and stop buttons. Turning the bottom piece puts the phone into camera mode.

Music is transferred through a USB 2.0 cable between a computer and the handset. The phone stores the music on a MicroSD memory card of up to 1Gb, which the company claims will hold about 750 songs.

It also comes with a 2-megapixel camera, a built in FM radio tuner and support for MP3, WMA, M4A and AAC digital media formats.

Apple's iPods and the Motorola Rokr use AAC in combination with the Fairplay digital rights management technology to play music from the iTunes music store.

Owners of the Nokia phone will not be able to play protected audio content on the 3250.

The 3250 is slated for availability in the first quarter of 2006. It will sell for about €350 without subsidy and taxes.

The 1Gb storage capacity gives Nokia a clear advantage over the Rokr, which caps the number of songs at 100. "This is a limiting factor that needs to be relieved," said Purdy.

The Motorola device also does not support WMA. The audio format is owned and developed by Microsoft and is used by many online music services including Yahoo Music, Napster and Rhapsody.

The Motorola phone is much cheaper, however, selling at $250 in the US. UK subscribers can get the phone for free with qualifying plans from T-Mobile and O2.