Nokia calls Microsoft for DRM software

Music to your ears?

Nokia is to incorporate Microsoft's DRM software into its S60 and Series 40 mobile device platforms, fueling speculation that it's about to jump onto the music downloads bandwagon. Microsoft's PlayReady content access software allows owners of digital content to transfer it between different devices in a DRM-controlled manner.

According to Nokia, this means its customers will be able to buy content directly through one of its handsets and then transfer it onto other designated devices, such as a PC.

Last week, Register Hardware reported that Nokia may be on the verge of unleashing its own downloads service, potentially targeted for an official launch on 29 August.

Although Nokia has not yet mentioned which forms of content it will offer on the two mobile device platforms, or in which file format(s), it does have quite a selection at its disposal because PlayReady supports WMA, WMV, AAC, AAC+, AMR and H.264.

Series 60 is a GUI and application layer developed by Nokia to run on the Symbian operating system, and Series 40 is a phone platform based on Nokia's propritary OS which is used on the majority of Nokia phone models.

PlayReady is also backwards-compatible with Windows Media DRM 10, which Microsoft claims will allow PlayReady devices to access existing Windows Media DRM-based content.