Rhapsody Reals In Sprint

RealNetworks’ Rhapsody music service will be offered to Sprint’s Vision customers as a monthly add-on feature.

Wireless carrier Sprint will make Real’s Rhapsody Radio available as a $6.95 extra for Sprint’s Vision customers. A press release from the firms notes the service will offer streaming music and podcasts, music news, and videos.

The two companies currently offer streaming video content via the rTV service. Like rTV, Rhapsody Radio requires a multimedia Sprint handset. Rhapsody, like others competing with Apple’s iTunes in the digital music space, has been seeking other revenue outlets.

The service does not offer downloading of songs or podcasts. All content will be delivered over-the-air. That content won’t come cheap. Sprint’s Vision service costs $10 to $15 per month on top of the standard rate plan, and the Rhapsody Radio fee will add to that.

Recently, Apple unveiled after months of speculation an iTunes compatible phone, developed by Motorola. Cingular will sell the Motorola ROKR phone, and it can be synced to a PC to permit downloading of iTunes songs to the ROKR. Up to 100 songs can be stored on the ROKR phone.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.