Apple, Motorola, Cingular, and iTunes Phone... Ready? (Updated)

Businessweek provides an excellent roundup of the players involved in Apple and Motorola's move to provide iTunes enabled cell phones.

The much publicized announcement has seen multiple delays over the past year. Some have speculated that wireless providers have been a major hurdle in the adoption of an iTunes-enabled phone. Recent rumors have pinpointed Cingular as the likely carrier of the new phones.

The deal with Cingular appears not to be in stone as of yet, but may represent Apple's only US carrier option:

Afraid that Apple would take a potentially new source of revenue (music downloads) for itself, all other major U.S. wireless carriers have refused Jobs's overtures outright, says Andrew Cole, an analyst with consultancy A.T. Kearney

Analysts expect that a family of iTunes phones will be available by Christmas ranging from low to high end phones.

[Update] Engadget has posted what they claim are photos of the new iTunes-enabled phone, a Motorola E790 model.