Intel and Nokia agree mobile partnership

Trade

26 June 2009

Intel and Nokia are collaborating to develop new mobile platforms that look beyond today’s smart phones, laptops and netbooks. In an echo of the buzz around mobile internet devices a couple of years ago, the two firms said they intend to collaborate more closely to develop a new class of mobile computing device based on the Intel architecture, combining PC-like performance with high bandwidth mobile Internet connectivity. As part of the partnership, Nokia and Intel will collaborate on several open source mobile Linux software projects, while Intel will acquire a licence for Nokia’s 3G/HSPA modem technology. The news did not quite live up to the hopes of some observers, who had expected to hear that Nokia was about to start using Intel’s Atom chips in some of its mobile products. Instead, the two firms had few concrete details to disclose, and declined to discuss what kind of devices the initiative might produce, or even when we might expect to see them. “We’re announcing the technology collaboration. We will talk about products when we’re ready to,” said Anand Chandrasekher, vice president of Intel’s Ultra Mobility Group. However, Nokia executive vice president Kai Oistamo said that the collaboration will “leverage each company’s expertise to explore new concepts in shapes, sizes and formats”. As part of the collaboration, Intel and Nokia will co-ordinate their open source development efforts. Both have a mobile version of Linux – Moblin in Intel’s case, and Maemo on Nokia’s Internet tablet devices – and there were hints that the development of the two might be converged. Another significant part of the announcement was that Intel will have a licence to use Nokia’s 3G/HSPA technology, which Chandrasekher said will complement Wi-Fi and WiMax in Intel products.

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