Apple Computer and Motorola intend on announcing a variety of new mobile phones with iPod/iTunes capabilities over the next year, according to a published report by Business Week magazine.

The magazine said the range of phones will include low end and high end phones available "before Christmas", and that the first phone out of the joint venture will reach the market by the end of July in the U.S. The report also gives credence to reports that U.S. cellular carrier Cingular will sell the product.

The report said all the three companies "have much to gain" from the partnership" and that the move "could help them take the pole position in a promising new market -- delivering digital music to cell phones, a device that has become the center of the digital lifestyle for millions of people around the world."

The report gives evidence that Cingular "could get a short-term exclusive right to Apple's iTunes service" and that the carrier is also "likely get a share of revenues from music downloads" by eventually unveiling a service to download directly from a cell phone. If the report is true, it would appear that the launch of the new product will not initially include the ability to download music via a wireless connection, but instead via iTunes 4.9. A report Monday gave evidence of the ability to control an 'iPod Phone' using iTunes 4.9.