In yet another challenge to Apple’s crown, mobile giant Nokia is staking its claim in the race to Christmas sales with the launch of two new music cellphones. The Apple iPhone will launch in the UK on November 9, and both Apple and Nokia are already engaged in a war of advertising and product placement.

This battle for the British market has got to the point where Nokia is now opening a store on Regent Street in London, just a few steps away from Apple’s flagship store. These guys are serious.

It’s Nokia Vs Apple and the gloves are off. Nokia’s new phones will give users the chance to search for music online. The interface will be similar to that of an iPod. While the N95 and the N81 may not be Nokia’s most interestingly-named products, the two phones will be hot on the streets of London this festive season.

The main difference between the Nokia phones and the iPhone is that iPhone users can’t browse through music stores on their phones using their service provider – they have to be in a WiFi area. This difference isn’t too significant, however.

The iPhone will launch in the UK for the equivalent of $550. Nokia is yet to reveal the cost of its new handsets, but as usual, they will probably be given away free with certain phone plans.

Both the iPhone and the Nokia models will feature 8MB of memory and decent-resolution cameras.

It’s game on.

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