Dell has been testing a digital music player that could go on sale as early as September, the Wall Street Journal newspaper said, citing several Dell officials.

Dell's move into an Apple-led market of mobile players follows Microsoft and Sony that have both tried -- and failed -- to make a dent in the market dominated by Apple's iPod players and iTunes store, the Journal said.

The music player which Dell has been testing features a small navigation screen and basic button controls to scroll through music play lists, the Journal reported.

It would also offer Wi-Fi Internet connection and Dell would likely price the model at less than $100, the Journal said.

Instead of simply selling a piece of hardware tied to someone else's music service, as it did in 2003, Dell is working on software for a range of portable PCs that will let users download and organize music and movies from various online sources, the paper added.