The latest addition to cell phone services allows Sprint customers to listen to radio over their handsets. Sprint yesterday announced a deal with RealNetworks to broadcast Rhapsody Radio over its cellular network.

Seven cell phone models will be able to access the streaming radio for a monthly service fee of $6.95. In addition to stations in genres such as rap, hip hop, alternative, pop and country, which were created expressly for the service, Sprint will also carry streaming podcasts from KCRW, the Santa Monica, Calif.-based National Public Radio station, and others...

...The broadcasts will be accessed through a menu option on the radio-enabled phones.

The service differs from Motorola's iTunes-enabled ROKR E1 phone in that Sprint's handsets will not store music; they merely act as a radio receiver. The ROKR service is available through Cingular...

...Rhapsody, RealNetwork's subscription music download service, has about 1.1 million subscribers. It launched in May 2003. Sprint had 18.3 million direct customers in the first quarter, Barrabee said. [article parts from GeekCoffee, Click Here to read full article]