Phone maker to include content access technology in next generation of cellphones; services to start in 2008.

Microsoft and Nokia have both announced that Nokia will incorporate support for Microsoft’s PlayReady content access and delivery technology into its S60 and Series 40 mobile cellphones.

The Microsoft technology allows users to buy or rent digital content such as ringtones, music, video or images and use it on their phone or on a designated external device such as a PC or notebook. The new technology is aimed at content providers and phone manufacturers according to Microsoft’s announcement and is expect to see the first services begin rolling out content in 2008.

Microsoft says PlayReady is backward-compatible with Windows Media DRM 10 so that any device supporting PlayReady can also access Windows Media DRM files.

PlayReady supports a number of the latest audio and video compression tools or “codecs” including Windows Media Audio (WMA), Windows Media Video (WMV), Advanced Audio Codec (AAC) and H.264 (also known as MPEG4/AVC).

“People are increasingly using their mobile devices for enjoying digital content, such as music, games, videos and photos,” said Ilkka Raiskinen, senior vice president of Multimedia Experiences at Nokia. “By adding support for Microsoft PlayReady technology, we are enabling service providers to offer a wide range of content and create truly compelling experiences across mobile devices, personal computers and online services. We plan to support PlayReady across a range of S60 and Series 40 devices starting in 2008.”

PlayReady is said to support a range of business models and will work with almost any type of digital content.

Microsoft released the PlayReady client kit to cellphone manufacturers this week.