Nokia aims to challenge Apple's iPhone

HELSINKI, Finland — Nokia unveiled new services and cellphones Wednesday that customers can use to download music and play games, a bid by the world's largest mobile-phone maker to challenge Apple's higher-end iPhone, as well as iTunes and the iPod.

The move by Nokia, whose basic handsets give it a strong position in emerging markets, is the latest recognition that high-end markets require handsets with photo, music and video capabilities and quick access to the Internet.

One of Nokia's new phones can hold up to 6,000 songs. Other new gadgets include headphones, docking stations and speakers.

Nokia said it will focus its new Web services in a site known as "Ovi" — Finnish for "door" — that will include an online music store "with millions of tracks from major labels."

With the new services, consumers will be able to transfer music from PCs to compatible Nokia devices and play and download N-Gage games on "tens of millions" of Nokia devices, the Finnish company said.

In a Wednesday note to clients, American Technology Research analyst Mark McKechnie said Nokia's "expanded efforts into services ... will enable (the company) to offer 'experiences' rather than just 'devices,' which we believe will become more important as mobile services move from voice-centric to Internet-centric."

The announcement in London sent Nokia's U.S. shares up $2.17, or 7.2 percent, to $32.18, setting a new 52-week high.

Nokia bought Seattle's Loudeye, a leading provider of digital media distribution services, for $60 million last year to expand its digital music offerings. Now it has completed deals with the four major music labels — Vivendi's Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, EMI Group and Sony BMG Music Entertainment, a joint venture of Sony and Bertelsmann.

The "Nokia Music Store" will open this autumn in Europe.

To flesh out its Internet services even more, Nokia last month bought Redmond-based Twango, a photo and media sharing and storage service. With the purchase, Nokia expects to open an office in the Seattle area to gain expertise in the Internet services area.

Nokia's new cellphones, some including 5 megapixel cameras, Carl Zeiss optics, and memory of up to 8 gigabytes, range from $300 to $750.

Last week, Nokia and Microsoft also announced that access to some of the software maker's most popular Web services, like Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger, will come built into some Nokia phone models.

Since losing out to rivals that produced popular camera features and clamshell models several years ago, Nokia is regaining its dominance, in part because it has already offered some successful smart phones.

In the second quarter, Nokia sold 100 million mobile devices — more than its three main rivals combined. It accounted for 37 percent of the global market, according to technology research group Gartner — up from 34 percent a year earlier.