Apple Computer’s expected partnership with Motorola and Cingular Wireless to introduce an iTunes mobile phone that can store and play digital music is creating a buzz as many anticipate the details will be released at a San Francisco event next week.The companies are likely to announce the long-awaited device on Sept. 7, when Apple said it will make a major product announcement. Motorola Chairman and CEO Edward J. Zander told analysts at a conference in July that such a phone will be on sale by the end of September.Apple is following the leads of Disney and ESPN to develop a phone service for its content, acting as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), said Rob Enderle, president of the Enderle Group. “This is similar to what Disney and ESPN did by contracting service from the carrier and selling it under its own brand in its Apple stores,” Enderle said. “Or, it could be a cell phone deal with Cingular.” The phone most likely will have storage capacity similar to the iPod Shuffle, which is available with as much as 1G byte of flash memory, and use an online music service co-branded by both Apple and Cingular, IDG News Service reported, citing telecommunications analyst Roger Entner of Ovum.The new service probably will offer all the music available today on Apple’s iTunes Music Store, Entner said. The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that users will be able to download songs onto the phone from the iTunes music collections on their PCs. It was not clear whether they would be able to download songs over the mobile phone network.Enderle said Apple’s move may indicate a leveling off of interest in the iPod. “This could indicate that the iPod, as a class of devices, is going in decline,” he said. “If you have a single class that offers both an iPod and a phone function, it could indicate that MP3 players are in decline.” Apple may introduce a new line of single-purpose portable music players to replace the iPod Mini, the Journal reported. They would have flash memory and be slimmer than the iPod Mini. Cingular, the largest mobile operator in the U.S. with about 50 million customers, is a joint venture of SBC Communications and BellSouth. Technology Industry