Handset maker Nokia has introduced an application that makes it possible to download podcasts to its N91 handset, according to an Associated Press report.
The report said the application, which could be downloaded for free from the company's Web site, enabled users to search the Internet for podcasts and then download these to their handsets where these could be viewed or listened to.
Nokia saw podcasting as the next step in turning mobile phones into what it called "multimedia computers" that could replace digital music players, or mp3 players, like Apple's iPod, Nokia multimedia director Tommi Mustonen was quoted as saying.
Many of the high-end phones sold by Nokia and its competitors already functioned as digital music players, in addition to serving as radios, cameras and TV broadcast players, but the Finnish company said it was the first to offer podcasting on its handsets, according to the report.
The podcasting application presented was a beta release that would be updated based on feedback from customers, Mustonen was quoted as saying.