U.S. software giant Microsoft is aiming to get its audio and video software into mobile phones before it is beaten to the 650-million-handsets-a-year market by rivals like Apple.

Microsoft has quietly made preparations to make its media software available to chip and handset makers, enabling consumers to play music they have saved in the Windows Media format on their PCs on their handsets.

"We've been hush-hush about it, so far. But we understand this is a major market opportunity," Erik Huggers, director of Windows Digital Media division, told Reuters in an interview on the fringes of the annual International Broadcasting Conference.

With Microsoft's media technology built into cell phones, consumers could buy music at Internet stores which use Microsoft's Windows Media format to encrypt and protect tracks. "The sales numbers (of mobile phones) are staggering. It's obvious that it's our goal to sign up all major handset makers," Huggers said.

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