Microsoft and Nokia bid to call mobile tune; Giants' tie-up signals start of battle to dominate mobile music.(Mobile)

While mutual incompatibility is the law of the online jungle, the mobile industry has always maintained a reputation as a model of maturity and co-operation. But when Nokia and Microsoft announced that Windows Media Audio (WMA) files will soon play on Nokia handsets, it gave notice that hostilities have spilled over from the warlike online territory into the domain of its apparently peace-loving neighbours.

The deal, which was made public at the 3GSM mobile industry conference a fortnight ago, may be the most significant one the mobile music world has heard. Overnight--or rather, in the coming months, when Nokia produces its first Windows-compatible devices--the two formerly bitter rivals will conjure up a bridge between the web and the mobile world.

Also at 3GSM, Motorola previewed its mobile version of iTunes, while Sony Ericsson announced a plan to bring the Walkman brand to its handsets. Suddenly, the mobile music landscape has begun to resemble a miniature version of its torrid online equivalent, in which consumer-friendly compatibility runs a poor second to corporate gamesmanship.

Indeed, the deadlock between web-based download platforms is one of a number of factors which have driven Microsoft and Nokia together, despite their very public rivalry. At a stroke, the Nokia deal gives Microsoft infinitely more penetration in the mobile market than it could ever have managed to conjure up with its own handsets and increases the size of the download battleground at a time when Microsoft is taking a beating from Apple on the web.

Nokia announced several new music-enabled smartphones at 3GSM, including the 6680 and the 6681, and aims to put music players in more than half of its product range by the end of this year. Some, if not all, of these phones will be compatible with the white-label download service Microsoft and Loudeye announced last year and, in a flash, Microsoft appears to have found another key element in its quest for the seamless digital experience.

For consumers, exclusive links between software giants and handset manufacturers will essentially mean our choice of phone is capable of driving our choice of download format. That could consequently influence our choice of portable music player and even ultimately dictate whether we buy a PC or a Mac, which is clearly Microsoft's goal.

"In mobile, you already have something which is very analogous to the mess you have got in the PC world, but even more so, because the mobile gate-keepers are so much stronger," says Mark Mulligan, senior analyst at Jupiter Research. "On your mobile, you don't even have the option of downloading an iTunes or a ...