Samsung courting Jay-Z

Samsung is reportedly looking to the rapper to give its products street cred and unique content in a multi-million dollar deal.

The New York Post reports that Samsung wants to sign up rapper and businessman Jay-Z to help promote its burgeoning range of Galaxy S smartphones.

The deal, which is rumored to be worth $20 million if Jay-Z signs on the dotted line, would no doubt see the rapper do more than simply endorse or promote the brand.

His other numerous business interests, including basketball, sports management, concert and artist promotion are likely to prove ideal sources of unique content for Samsung customers, as one source, quoted in the piece said: "You can speculate that he'll want to develop some kind of new music-streaming service to promote his acts and music on mobile devices."

Though Samsung is not exactly struggling to sell its handsets -- the company claims to have sold 10 million Galaxy SIV smartphones in the last month -- it clearly sees unique services and content, as well as a stronger brand as important in the long term.

And while its latest line of flagship products do offer unique applications, unavailable to other Android device owners, it does lack original content.

Sony recently launched the Xperia Lounge app which gives users backstage access to music, sports and cinema events as well as to exclusive competitions -- features that are possible because the company also owns a film company and a record label.

Likewise, HTC's Blink Feed service, which debuted on its flagship One handset in March offers users unique news and entertainment content from sources as varied as MTV and ESPN.