Nokia has again delayed the launch of its gaming service N-gage until “early” 2008, a spokesperson said on Thursday.

Nokia unveiled the gaming service in August and it initially planned to begin the service last month. However, on November 2, the company pushed it back for the first time due to software glitches. Now, the service was delayed once again for the beginning of the next year, said Kari Tuutti, a spokesperson for the Espoo, Finland-based company, according to Reuters.

“It's a few weeks' postponement. We've identified one software element that needs to be fine-tuned,” he said.

N-gage is part of Nokia’s plan to expand beyond handsets and equipment. The gaming service, together with a music shop and mapping services, is one of the cornerstones of Nokia’s drive into mobile Internet services under its new “Ovi” (which means “door” in Finnish) brand. In December, Nokia unveiled the “Come With Music” program, which allows customers to buy a phone with a year of unlimited access to millions of songs.

Nokia has introduced new music phones and is seeking to sell more services in its trying to face competition from Apple Inc.’s iPhone. Ovi will sell games for 6 euros to 10 euros each.

Shares in Nokia were 0.2 percent higher at 27.04 euros by 5:13 a.m. ET, in line DJ Stoxx European technology index. The stock is heading for its biggest annual gain since 1999.