World Cup football live on the iPhone

The BBC has announced that it will launch two apps for the Apple iPhone later this year to make news and sport content from its site more accessible for owners of the handset.

The BBC Sport iPhone app will even offer live coverage of 2010 World Cup matches as well as on-demand clips of every goal scored in the tournament.

It is also expected to secure the rights to show live Formula One coverage on the iPhone as well, though this might not happen until later in the year.

Along with the BBC Sport app, there will also be a BBC News app for iPhone, offering breaking news, analysis and features as well as audio and video content.

Both will be available in April, the BBC said, and will not cost anything.

Erik Huggers, the BBC's director of Future Media and Technology, said: "As media converges and technology accelerates, licence fee payers are increasingly using sophisticated handheld devices to access information.

"Today's announcement means that we are catching up with our audiences, and the same content that we broadcast on television and make available online can now be better enjoyed on the move," he continued.

The BBC said that the apps would also be available on BlackBerry and Android-based devices later in the year, and also hinted at a BBC iPlayer iPhone app.