Technofile: Typical. You wait ages for a mobile phone that also plays music and then three come along at once.

A fortnight ago, Motorola released the iTunes-powered ROKR phone. Just before that, Sony Ericsson released its W800 walkman phones. Now Nokia has announced a new range of Xpressmusic phones.

The idea behind Xpressmusic is that it is a dedicated mobile music brand. (All is marketing these days).

Nokia's Xpressmusic phones will simply share key features like a dedicated music key, music pause/resume on incoming calls, support for earphones, and an extended battery life for music listening (a minimum of 10 hours).

This phone includes USB 2.0 support for easy dragging and dropping tracks onto the phone. It will also feature support for audio formats including MP3, M4A, WMA, AAC and eAAC+, used by European networks for "over the air" music downloads.

Coinciding with this branding exercise is the launch of the Nokia 3250, Nokia's second music phone, which will download music "over the air" and carry up to 1GB of expandable memory.

The 3250 comes hot on the heels of Nokia's launch of a music-friendly version of its 3G phone, the 6630, the "music edition", which now comes with a 256MB memory and a USB MMC/SD reader.

You can see why they had to come up with a rebranding idea. Confusing matters is the new Nokia Music Pack, which has the Nokia audio adapter, a memory card, a Nokia USB MMC/SD reader and a Nokia stereo audio cable as a kit.

But there's a lot to play for. In 2004, Nokia sold over 10 million mobile phones with an integrated digital music player. This year it expects to sell 40 million.

But the much-trumpeted Nokia N91 - with a 4 GB hard disk - has yet to actually appear.

It looks now like the N91 will miss Christmas and come out early next year, with Nokia putting the delay down to its desire to strengthen the protection of copyrighted music on the phone. That means that it will have Microsoft's digital rights management implemented for WMA files such as those offered by Napster and Virgin Digital. (So no naughty sharing of free music, okay?)

Different mobile networks will also be able to offer their own music download services on the phone. The N91 will play MP3 and AAC files - but folks, it isn't compatible with songs downloaded from the iTunes music store, so don't buy one thinking you can replace your iPod.

So instead of launching the N91, the Finnish giant has released the 3250, "a music phone with a twist".Cue groans all round, because the phone's keypad does actually twist 180 degrees to display the music control keys. Twist it 90 degrees and the impressive 2 megapixel camera is activated, to give it a "camcorder" feel.

The handset holds 1GB of memory - twice that of the Motorola ROKR - equivalent to around 750 tracks. The phone also has smartphone applications like a calendar, so you can also run your life on it.

Bluetooth and an FM radio are included, bringing the phone in at an expected €350 Sim-free, but it'll be cheaper when networks offer it with a subsidised contract.

Meanwhile, Samsung looks likely to beat the pack to actually launch a hard-disk based phone in Europe first. Its 3GB Windows-based SGH-i300 will be in the stores around November(prices not confirmed). Featuring a scroll wheel to access the music, the phone comes with a 1.3 mega pixel camera and Bluetooth.

What with the launch of the iPod Nano making iPod fans' hearts beat faster, the Christmas season is shaping up to be one dominated by mobile music, and particularly on the mobile phone.

This could be the first real test of the dominance of the iPod, but it's not out for the count yet.