iRiver will introduce thier new cellphone early in 2009

The President of ReignCom, the company behind the iRiver brand known for personal media players, has recently announced that iRiver will bring its first handset to market by March of 2009. Due to be carried by Korean wireless provider KTF, the handset will include a large touchscreen display capable of recognizing handwriting, a Wi-Fi module for wireless network access and access to Bugs Music Service. As is typical of Korean handsets, a few dictionaries are also included in the handset.

First seen at the CES show back in January in concept form, the unnamed handset will be initially available at just 10 iRiver Zone stores before a planned expansion to major carriers. At this time, no pricing information is known, nor if ReignCom plans on bringing the handset to North America. iRiver is a long-time competitor to Apple's iPod range of personal musical players, and has long offered touchscreen devices such as the SPINN.