“A series of recent trademark filings by Apple Computer is stoking speculation that the firm may be ready to leap ahead with plans to combine its popular iPod music player with its own mobile phone,” Ryan Kim reports for The San Francisco Chronicle. “Earlier this month, Apple filed four trademark applications for the term ‘Mobile Me,’ covering a broad array of possibilities, including ‘digital music,’ ‘cellular’ and ‘telecommunications.’ The move would make sense for Apple, whose popular line of iPod music player is facing competition from a bevy of music-playing cell phones.”

“In a research note, analysts Albert Lin and Shaw Wu of American Technology Research said Apple appears to be extending its iTunes and Mac product lines into new areas, including phones and mobile content services. They speculated that Apple could be looking to beef up its partnership with Motorola for future iTunes phones like the Rokr, or it could in fact be preparing to start its own phone network. ‘Apple has long been rumored to be a (niche phone carrier) candidate. We believe this would be a successful strategy, given the type of content and markets Apple has had success in. … We believe additional branding for services coming to the market would heavily involve wireless downloading of content to maximize sales and meet customer expectations for ease of use,’ they wrote. The barriers are low for companies seeking to become a niche carrier, also known as a mobile virtual network operator [MVNO],” Kim reports.

Full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews reader "editg5" for the link.]

[UPDATE: 11:18am ET: fixed headline typo.]

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