Nokia to Acquire Symbian Limited to Enable Evolution of The Leading Open Mobile Platform

Nokia today announced it has launched a cash offer to acquire all of the shares of Symbian Limited that Nokia does not already own, at a price of EUR 3.647 per share.  The net cash outlay from Nokia to purchase the approximately 52% of Symbian Limited shares it does not already own will be approximately EUR 264 million.

Nokia has received irrevocable undertakings from Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ), Panasonic Mobile Communications Co. Ltd. and Siemens International Holding BV to accept the offer, representing approximately 91% of the Symbian shares subject to the offer.  Nokia also expects Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. to accept the offer.

The acquisition is a fundamental step in the establishment of the Symbian Foundation, announced today by Nokia, together with AT&T, LG Electronics, Motorola, NTT DOCOMO, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Vodafone. More information about the planned foundation can be found at www.symbianfoundation.org.

"This is a significant milestone in our software strategy" said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CEO of Nokia. "Symbian is already the leading open platform for mobile devices. Through this acquisition and the establishment of the Symbian Foundation, it will undisputedly be the most attractive platform for mobile innovation. This will drive the development of new and compelling, web-enabled applications to delight a new generation of consumers."

"The wide support for this initiative, uniting the industry around the Symbian platform, reflects the strong gravitational pull it has for application developers and other ecosystem players. We will drive efficient, open innovation by unifying the platform and simplifying the software supply chain, leveraging our experience from mobile devices.  Nokia is strongly positioned to realize the benefits of open innovation, as well as accelerating time to market, enabling us to meet and exceed consumer expectations for leading converged devices and experiences", Kallasvuo continued.

Symbian Limited is the software company that develops and licenses Symbian OS, the market-leading open operating system for mobile devices. User interfaces designed for Symbian OS include S60 from Nokia, MOAP (S) for the 3G network and UIQ, designed by UIQ Technology, a joint venture between Motorola and Sony Ericsson.  A privately-owned company established in 1998, Symbian has its headquarters in London, UK and other offices in the United Kingdom, United States and Asia (Bangalore, Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo).

"Ten years ago, Symbian was established by far sighted players to offer an advanced open operating system and software skills to the whole mobile industry", said Nigel Clifford, CEO of Symbian. "Our vision is to become the most widely used software platform on the planet and indeed today Symbian OS leads its market by any measure. Today's announcement is a bold new step to achieve that vision by embracing a complete and proven platform, offered in an open way, designed to stimulate innovation, which is at the heart of everything we do."

Mobile devices based on Symbian OS account for 60% of the converged mobile device segment (source: Canalys, 12 months to Q1 2008).  Symbian OS represented approximately 7% of all mobile device sales in 2007, up from 5% in 2006 (source: Strategy Analytics).  To date, more than 200 million Symbian OS based phones have been shipped, over 235 models, from 8 vendors and on more than 250 mobile networks around the world.  More than 4 million developers are engaged in producing applications for Symbian devices.

Nokia expects the acquisition to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2008 and is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions.  On a reported basis, Nokia expects the transaction to be dilutive in 2009, approximately breakeven in 2010, and accretive in 2011.  On a cash basis, Nokia expects the transaction to be dilutive in 2009 and accretive in 2010 and 2011. After the closing, all Symbian employees will become Nokia employees.

via PR.

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Nokia To Social-Activity Service Provider Acquire Plazes

Nokia and Plazes today announced an agreement for Nokia to acquire substantially all assets of Plazes, a privately-owned start-up company of 13 people with its principal operations in Berlin. Plazes provides a context-aware social-activity service that people can use to plan, record, and share their social activities: why they are at a given location at a given time, whether in the past, present or future.

"This acquisition helps Nokia to accelerate its vision of bringing people and places closer together, in line with our broader services strategy," said Niklas Savander, Head of Nokia Services & Software. "In addition to the key assets, through this acquisition Nokia will bring on a visionary team with an advanced understanding of social-activity services, as well as the technical ability to further develop this area."

By acquiring Plazes, Nokia will be able to extend its context-based service offering with social presence and time-based activity planning features. Plazes adds the elements of "place" and "time" to social networking through features that allow people to alert friends of their activity and location; review their own and others' past activities; share their experiences and make plans with friends, who are then able to respond with comments and suggestions as well as their own location information.

"Nokia shares our vision of the social activity space and of how we can together develop the service that Plazes provides today," said Felix Petersen, co-founder of Plazes. "We feel proud of what the Plazes team has achieved so far with its pioneering work in context-aware services and we feel even more excited about what's to come next."

The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the third quarter 2008. After closing, Plazes will become part of Nokia's Services & Software unit.

About Plazes

Plazes AG is one of the pioneering web platforms for location sharing and publishing on the web today. Members of Plazes are able to update their location through their laptop or mobile phone, and update their online presence with their current, past and future whereabouts. That way Plazes provides location-based context and real-life value when coordinating with friends, family and business partners. Plazes AG is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland with a development office in Berlin, Germany. For additional information, please visit www.plazes.com.

Via PR

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Nokia to bring Microsoft Silverlight powered experiences to millions of mobile users

Nokia today announced plans to make Microsoft Silverlight available for S60 on Symbian OS, the world's leading smartphone software(1), as well as for Series 40 devices and Nokia Internet tablets. Adding support for Silverlight will extend opportunities for developers to create rich, interactive applications that run on multiple platforms in a consistent and reliable way.

"Today's consumers are very clear in what they want: easy access to tightly integrated services and data on any device," said Lee Williams, Senior Vice President in Nokia's Devices software organization. "Nokia's software strategy is based on cross-platform development environments, enabling the creation of rich applications across the Nokia device range. Nokia aims to support market leading and content rich internet application environments and to embrace and encourage open innovation. By working with Microsoft, we are creating terrific opportunities and additional choices for the development community, S60 licensees and the industry as a whole."

Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering next-generation media experiences and rich interactive applications. Silverlight is already powering thousands of applications around the world and organizations including Entertainment Tonight, the NBA and NBC Universal to deliver superior Web-based experiences to their customers. The arrangement with Nokia will substantially extend the reach of Silverlight by making the platform available for hundreds of millions of devices, including S60 on Symbian smartphones from a range of manufacturers, as well as Nokia Series 40 devices and Nokia Internet tablets.

"This is an important relationship on so many levels. Working with Nokia means we are easily able to reach a huge number of mobile users, including customers of all S60 licensees. This is a significant step in gaining broad acceptance for Silverlight and ensuring it is platform agnostic. This is critical since we want to make sure developers and designers don't have to constantly recreate the wheel and build different versions of applications and services for multiple operating systems, browsers and platforms," said S. Somasegar, Senior Vice President of Microsoft's Developer Division.

"There is clear market demand for rich, Web-based services across a variety of device types, but developing these can often be commercially difficult. For Microsoft this extends Silverlight to a broader range of vendors, platforms and devices. For Nokia it expands the web runtime options on its devices, enabling a wider community of developers and more applications. This should help the uptake of higher speed mobile services and advance a new era of anytime, anywhere device-based computing", said Bola Rotibi , Principal Analyst at Ovum.

Microsoft will demonstrate Silverlight on S60 during the opening keyote at Microsoft's MIX08 conference on March 5 in Las Vegas. Silverlight is intended to be available to S60 developers later this year with initial service delivery anticipated shortly thereafter for all S60 licensees. This will allow S60 application developers to use an even wider range of development environments for S60 on Symbian OS than today. Today S60 developers can use: C++ (using native Symbian OS APIs and Open C providing subset of standard POSIX libraries), S60 Web Run-time (supporting standards-based web technologies such as Ajax, JavaScript, CSS and HTML), the Java(TM) language, Flash Lite from Adobe, and Python.

Microsoft Silverlight availability for Nokia Series 40 devices and Nokia Internet tablets will be confirmed later.

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Nokia and University of Cambridge launch a nanotechnology concept device, Morph

Morph, a joint nanotechnology concept, developed by Nokia Research Center (NRC) and the University of Cambridge (UK) - was launched today alongside the "Design and the Elastic Mind" exhibition, on view from February 24 to May 12, 2008, at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Morph features in both the exhibition catalog and on MoMA's official website.

Morph is a concept that demonstrates how future mobile devices might be stretchable and flexible, allowing the user to transform their mobile device into radically different shapes.  It demonstrates the ultimate functionality that nanotechnology might be capable of delivering: flexible materials, transparent electronics and self-cleaning surfaces. Dr. Bob Iannucci, Chief Technology Officer, Nokia, commented: "Nokia Research Center is looking at ways to reinvent the form and function of mobile devices; the Morph concept shows what might be possible".

Dr. Tapani Ryhanen, Head of the NRC Cambridge UK laboratory, Nokia, commented: "We hope that this combination of art and science will showcase the potential of nanoscience to a wider audience. The research we are carrying out is fundamental to this as we seek a safe and controlled way to develop and use new materials."
Professor Mark Welland, Head of the Department of Engineering's Nanoscience Group at the University of Cambridge and University Director of Nokia-Cambridge collaboration added: "Developing the Morph concept with Nokia has provided us with a focus that is both artistically inspirational but, more importantly, sets the technology agenda for our joint nanoscience research that will stimulate our future work together."

The partnership between Nokia and the University of Cambridge was announced in March, 2007 - an agreement to work together on an extensive and long term programme of joint research projects.  NRC has established a research facility at the University's West Cambridge site and collaborates with several departments - initially the Nanoscience Center and Electrical Division of the Engineering Department - on projects that, to begin with, are centered on nanotechnology.

Elements of Morph might be available to integrate into handheld devices within 7 years, though initially only at the high-end. However, nanotechnology may one day lead to low cost manufacturing solutions, and offers the possibility of integrating complex functionality at a low price.

Click here more details on Morph.

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Nokia and Google to Offer Google Search to Nokia Customers Worldwide

Nokia and Google today announced that Google's popular search engine will be integrated with the Nokia Search application. The integration will begin in select markets with the Nokia N96, Nokia N78, Nokia 6210 Navigator and Nokia 6220 classic. Google search will be extended to additional Nokia handset models in the future. Ultimately, Nokia will make Google search available to its customers in over 100 countries around the world, serving mobile owners speaking more than 40 languages.

Nokia Search, now with Google, offers fast and easy access to web information from the handset. In addition, Nokia Search also makes it possible for users to search content on their device and use local search engines for a complete search experience. Nokia Search is available on many devices and provides direct access with one click from the active standby screen, saving users time and steps in their searching. Once users have found the information they are seeking, Nokia Search enables users to act on that information by engaging device assets such as maps, messaging or the browser with just one click.

"Providing choices for our consumers is an important driver in Nokia's Internet service strategy," said Ilkka Raiskinen, vice-president, software and services at Nokia. "This integration allows our consumers the ability to use the innovative search technologies, which have made Google almost synonymous with Internet search.

"Adding Google to Nokia Search provides mobile users with fast, relevant and comprehensive search experience that will be familiar to the people who use Google to search the web from their desktop," said Google's VP of Engineering and Products for Mobile Vic Gundotra. "Google search combined with the high quality applications on Nokia devices help make information available to Nokia device users wherever they are and provide an excellent overall experience."

The collaboration announced today builds on previous cooperation between Nokia and Google. Google search has previously been available on Nokia Internet tablets, and last year the Nokia N95 8GB became the first mobile device to fully support YouTube, the video-sharing platform owned by Google.

Nokia Search is available on more than 40 Nokia devices in over 40 languages and in more than 100 countries. For the latest list of compatible Nokia devices, please visit www.mobilesearch.nokia.com.

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Nokia unveiled the Nokia N96, a multimedia computer truly optimized for video and TV

Nokia today unveiled the Nokia N96, a multimedia computer truly optimized for video and TV. With a large 2.8" screen, 16 gigabytes of internal memory and support for high-quality videos in a wide range of formats, the dual-slide Nokia N96 represents an exciting new chapter in mobile media. The Nokia N96 multimedia computer is expected to begin shipping in the third quarter of 2008 with an estimated sales price of approximately 550 euros, before subsidies or taxes.

"In 2007, the Nokia N95 became an icon of convergence of Internet and mobility. With over 7 million units sold to date, the N95 has changed the way people use their mobile device. The Nokia N96 we introduced today builds on the success of N95, further enhancing the experience," says Jonas Geust, who oversees Nokia's Explore category. "Through the power of the Internet, video and TV are becoming even more prevalent in people's lives. With its large, bright screen, and a range of high-speed connectivity options and the enhanced Nokia Video Center, the new Nokia N96 is a personal window to entertainment."

Accessing internet videos is quick and simple. The Nokia N96 supports common video formats including MPEG-4, Windows Media Video and Flash Video, making favorite videos easy to view. Transferring and accessing videos is even faster with the high-speed USB 2.0 connection and WLAN and HSDPA support. In select markets, the integrated DVB-H receiver offers live broadcast TV with an automatically updating program guide. The massive memory can store up to 40 hours of video content. The storage capacity of the Nokia N96 can even be further expanded with an optional microSD card, such as the new Nokia 8GB microSDHC Card MU-43 which increases the available memory of the Nokia N96 to a total of 24 GB.  For added convenience, the Nokia N96 features a 'kickstand' on the back cover that allows for hands-free viewing.

The Nokia Video Center offers one place to discover and access a variety of mobile content ranging from movie trailers and comedy to news from world-leading content brands such as YouTube, Reuters, and Sony Pictures. The catalogue of internet video feeds is continually expanded with more regional and country specific content.

For a superb music experience, the Nokia N96 features media keys, a 3.5 mm headphone connector and built-in 3D stereo speakers. The Nokia Maps application offers richer maps with urban details and satellite views and has upgrade options such as City Guides, turn-by-turn pedestrian mode and voice-guided car navigation.

The Nokia N96 boasts a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, flash and video light. It allows DVD-like quality video capture at 30 frames per second. Further, with the integrated A-GPS, consumers can now 'geotag' their pictures with location data and share them with their online communities.
The Nokia N96 naturally supports the Ovi family of Nokia internet services, including maps, music, media sharing and more.

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Nokia to acquire Trolltech to accelerate software strategy

Nokia and Trolltech ASA today announced that they have entered into an agreement that Nokia will make a public voluntary tender offer to acquire Trolltech, a company headquartered in Oslo, Norway and publicly listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Trolltech is a recognized software provider with world-class software development platforms and frameworks. In addition to the key software assets, its talented team will play an important role in accelerating the implementation of Nokia's software strategy.

Nokia will offer NOK 16 per share in cash. The board of directors of Trolltech has unanimously recommended that its shareholders accept Nokia's Offer. Holders of 35,024,830 shares, representing approximately 66,43 % of Trolltech's issued shares and votes have as of January 27, 2008 irrevocably undertaken to accept the Offer. Haavard Nord, Vuonislahti Invest AS (controlled by Eirik Chambe-Eng), Teknoinvest and certain funds managed by Index Ventures are among the shareholders who have agreed to tender their shares to Nokia.

The acquisition of Trolltech will enable Nokia to accelerate its cross-platform software strategy for mobile devices and desktop applications, and develop its Internet services business. With Trolltech, Nokia and third party developers will be able to develop applications that work in the Internet, across Nokia's device portfolio and on PCs. Nokia's software strategy for devices is based on cross-platform development environments, layers of software that run across operating systems, enabling the development of applications across the Nokia device range. Examples of current cross-platform layers are Web runtime, Flash, Java and Open C.

"The technology landscape evolves and, for Nokia, software plays a major role in our growth strategy for devices, PCs and the integration with the Internet. We continue to focus on areas where we can differentiate and add more value. Common cross-platform layers on top of our software platforms attract innovation and enable Web 2.0 technologies in the mobile space," said Kai Öistämö, Executive Vice President, Devices, Nokia. "Trolltech's deep understanding of open source software and its strong technology assets will enable both Nokia and others to innovate on our device platforms while reducing time-to-market. This acquisition will also further increase the competitiveness of S60 and Series 40."

Nokia aims to continue the development of Trolltech's products and support of new and existing customers. Nokia strives for an open approach to technology that will encourage and support innovation in the industry, enable fast adoption of new technologies and advance healthy competition. Nokia embraces open source technology and will take further the open source development culture found in Trolltech.

"Trolltech and Nokia share the goal of accelerating the adoption of Trolltech's Qt based technology in the commercial market and in the open source community," said Haavard Nord, CEO and founder of Trolltech. Eirik Chambe-Eng, Chief Troll and co-founder of Trolltech continues "We are thrilled to join forces with Nokia. The company's innovative culture and resources will give our employees new and exciting possibilities and fulfill our vision of "Qt everywhere"."

Nokia intends to continue to enhance Trolltech products through active and ongoing development, for both desktop and mobile. To further stimulate industry innovation based on Trolltech's products, Nokia plans to continue to license Trolltech technology under both commercial and open source licenses.

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including acceptance by shareholders representing more than 90 % of the fully diluted share capital, and the necessary regulatory approvals. The complete details of the offer, including all terms and conditions, will be set forth in an offer document expected to be sent to Trolltech shareholders within two weeks. The offer is expected to be open for acceptance for a period of four weeks and to be completed in the second quarter of 2008. If the conditions to the offer are satisfied or waived, Nokia will have a legal duty to make a mandatory cash offer for or compulsory acquisition of the remaining shares.

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Nokia Unveiled 7900 Crystal Prism, Adds a Touch of Glamour

Nokia today unveiled its latest addition to the Prism Collection, the Nokia 7900 Crystal Prism, aimed at design-conscious consumers. With its seamless diamond-cut design with a crystal centre key, the Nokia 7900 Crystal Prism continues to highlight the geometric shapes and personalized style of the Prism Collection. Nokia 7900 Crystal Prism will be available in the first quarter of 2008 with an estimated retail price of EUR 375, before taxes and subsidies.

Nokia worked in collaboration with the creative designer Frédérique Daubal, which resulted in unique laser-etched graphic designs, distinctive wallpapers as well as exclusive accessories to the Nokia 7900 Crystal Prism. The wallpapers inspired by Daubal communicate the reflection of light and capture the feel of angular prisms and triangles.

"At Nokia we are constantly looking for new and innovative shapes, styles and materials combined with advanced features and personalized experiences," said Jo Harlow, who oversees the Live category in Nokia. "Additionally, we continue to seek opportunities to collaborate with designers and artists at the top of their fields, who can offer different talents and insights to help us create products that meet the individual and unique lifestyle needs of consumers."

The graphic design of the aluminium back cover, together with intriguing light effects, make each handset unique and complement the glamorous appeal of the Nokia 7900 Crystal Prism.

Combining special design and technology, the Nokia 7900 Crystal Prism features an eye-catching large OLED display, with organic, modern digital art wallpapers inspired by Daubal. From a technical standpoint, the Nokia 7900 Crystal Prism comes with a 2 megapixel camera, 3G technology for fast and easy downloads and browsing, 1 GB of internal memory and a music player with matching headset. The user can also personalize the color of the light in the keymat choosing from 49 different colors.

Additional wallpapers designed by Frédérique Daubal are available for downloading at www.nokiaprismcollection.com. The website also includes images and information of the Nokia Prism Collection.

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Nokia Internet Tablet Video Converter now supports Vista

Nokia Internet Tablet Video Converter, the application for converting videos to Nokia Internet Tablets is updated to support Vista.

Main change: it now supports Microsoft Windows Vista. Yay!!

Other changes include:

• Misc UI, cosmetic, and functional issues fixed
• New output video codecs for even better video quality
• New input video codecs supported

New known issues:

• Copying files to your Tablet using Vista is slower than it should be
• Errors can occur when cache size is exceeded

About Nokia Internet Tablet Video Converter

With Nokia Internet Tablet Video Converter, you can easily convert your videos – the ones you shot yourself and the ones you downloaded from the Internet (legally of course) – into an optimized format for your Nokia Internet Tablet.

More details

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Nokia N95 8GB, the first DLNA certified mobile

Nokia today announced that the Nokia N95 8GB had the distinction of being the first ever mobile phone to receive Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) certification. The DLNA is a body advocating the interoperability of wired and wireless consumer devices. For the consumer, this accolade translates into convenient and intuitive connectivity between your DLNA Certified home electronics devices, personal computers, and your Nokia N95 8GB.

DLNA technology enables multi-vendor home ecosystems of consumer devices by building a common connectivity platform for a variety of multimedia experiences. This vision is fully in line with the Nokia's aspiration for openness and seamless interoperability between devices and services from different brands.

DLNA has certified the Nokia N95 8GB as a Mobile Digital Media Server, an acknowledgment that taps into the genius of this multimedia computer. The extensive connectivity and cutting-edge media capabilities of the Nokia N95 8GB are ideal for enjoying content, such as music, photos or videos, wirelessly on other devices in the home environment.

"We are thrilled to receive this tribute from the DLNA. The Nokia N95 8GB is truly a masterpiece of a multimedia computer, and a prime example of the direction mobility is taking - it's personal, powerful and fits seamlessly into your life inside and outside the home," said Anssi Vanjoki, executive vice president, Markets, Nokia.

DLNA has already certified over 1800 products in the personal computer and consumer electronic categories, but this is the first time the stringent guidelines for interoperability set by the DLNA have been met by a mobile phone. Mobile devices were included in the DLNA Networked Device Interoperability Guidelines that were published in early 2006, and are now part of the recently launched DLNA certification program. The Nokia N95 8GB passed DLNA's rigorous testing process to receive the green DLNA Certified logo, a marker of its leading position in the mobile domain of the digital home.

With up to eight gigabytes of built-in memory, the Nokia N95 8GB can hold a vast selection of your favorite media content, like those ski vacation photos and your music collection. You can share these with your friends and family on a DLNA Certified home entertainment system and enjoy your photos on a full-sized TV screen or jam to those tunes on your home stereo system. All you need to do is share the content wirelessly from your Nokia N95 8GB.

Nokia is an active member of the DLNA and has been driving interoperability of mobile, PC, and consumer electronics devices at and beyond home. As mobile phones have converted into diverse multimedia computers, they serve as the primary gateway to the Internet, services and content for millions of people around the world. Nokia is mobilizing home multimedia content and enabling remote access to home content using your Nokia mobile devices.

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Classically designed and fully featured Nokia 6263 now available at T-Mobile USA

Designed for customers who want to have the latest features like e-mail capability with support for attachments, a 1.3 megapixel camera with video recorder and a music player, but also appreciate a classic design, Nokia today announced the new Nokia 6263 phone, now available nationwide from T-Mobile USA, Inc. The Nokia 6263 features a fold-style design, a 2.2" 16 million color QVGA primary display, large exterior mounted music keys for easy access to saved music tracks, and the ability to hold over 350 songs with its included 512MB memory card, or up to 3000 with an optional 4GB card.

"Many customers are looking to own a device that offers the latest conveniences, and want all of those features in a stylish - but classically-styled - phone. The Nokia 6263 is designed expressly for those people," said Frank Vium, vice president of sales for Nokia. "We are excited to be working with T-Mobile to bring this compelling blend of fun and function to customers across the country."

For the productivity-minded owner, the Nokia 6263 includes e-mail capability with support for attachments, a powerful XHTML browser, support for Java(TM) and Flash Lite content, and can easily be synchronized to a desktop by using Nokia's PC Suite software, which can be downloaded for free from www.nokiausa.com. The Nokia 6263 includes a large slate of features designed to enhance a mobile lifestyle. A 1.3 megapixel camera with video recorder makes it easy to capture special moments.  The Bluetooth® wireless technology makes it possible to connect the Nokia 6263 to a wide variety of mobile enhancements like stereo wireless headsets and speakers, computers and even new vehicles with Bluetooth hands-free technology. The standard high capacity battery can easily allow Nokia 6263 owners to stay in touch with their friends, family and business associates with up to 3 1/3 hours of talk time, or over 11 days of standby time.

For maximum music enjoyment, a wide variety of music file formats, including MP3, AAC, eAAC+ and WMA, are supported by the Nokia 6263, as are the DRM-protected Windows Media® music files that are available from most online music stores on the Internet. Many widely used music software packages can be used to manage and synchronize tracks between the Nokia 6263 and a PC. For even more music - as well as news, talk and sports - the Nokia 6263 also includes an integrated stereo FM radio.

The Nokia 6263 is available at select T-Mobile retail stores and online at www.t-mobile.com.

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Nokia acquires Avvenu for Mobile Access and Share Technologies

Nokia and Avvenu today announced that they have signed an agreement under which Nokia will acquire Avvenu.  Avvenu provides Internet services that allow anyone to use their mobile devices to securely access, use and share personal computer files, even if their host computer is turned off.  By acquiring Avvenu, Nokia plans to further enhance its portfolio of solutions for mobile operators, as well as deliver a secure file access and share service direct to mobile workers. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and has not yet been completed.

Nokia believes that anytime access to PC content is a missing ingredient to mobile productivity. Smartphone adoption is growing faster than previously estimated and surveys confirm that many people are using mobile devices to view, process, and edit content. Easy access to existing pc content will fuel mobile computing convenience and productivity.

"This acquisition is another step toward delivering on Nokia's business mobility strategy," said Mary McDowell, executive vice president and general manager, Enterprise Solutions, Nokia.  "Avvenu's 'digital locker' file access and sharing technology allows users to search, access and share PC files remotely, using  their mobile or other connected devices, even when their PC is turned off or not connected to the Internet.  With the integration of Avvenu's technology, Nokia will further extend its business mobility solutions beyond email to add collaboration tools that enable greater everyday productivity through access to a user's own content anytime, anywhere, from any connected device."

"We share Nokia's vision of quickly and easily connecting people with their information and content regardless of where they are in the world, and whether their PC is with them or not," said Richard French, CEO, Avvenu.  "The combination of our experienced team and our patented technology platform will help realize this vision, while access to Nokia's extensive technology and market resources will accelerate our time to market for new mobile Internet services."

Founded in 2004, Avvenu is a privately-owned start up headquartered in Palo Alto, California.  Avvenu will be integrated into Nokia's new Services & Software unit as a part of the company re-organization that will take effect on January 1, 2008.

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Laptops lookout - New Nokia N810 Internet Tablet hits store shelves

Nokia announced yesterday that the new Nokia N810 Internet Tablet has begun shipping nationwide in the United States.  With a new slide-out keyboard, built-in GPS, digital audio/video playback and Wi-Fi capability for VoIP calling, the Nokia N810 provides the functionality of a traditional computer but all in one sleek, stylish and portable device.

"More than ever, people want to bring their online communities with them wherever they go - whether it's on vacation, a business trip, or just around their neighborhood - and the pocketable Nokia N810 Internet Tablet lets consumers do just this," said Bill Plummer, Vice President, Multimedia, Nokia North America.  "As consumer demand increases for new multimedia experiences, Nokia is taking the leadership position to create new devices that meet this demand and maximize the experience for the user."

The Nokia N810 provides a premier, portable internet experience with its large color display, touchpad screen, slide-out keyboard, 400 MHz processor, Mozilla-based browser and up to 10GB of memory (an optional 8GB memory card combined with 2GB internal memory).  To access the Internet, users simply connect via the nearest Wi-Fi hotspot or over Bluetooth on a mobile phone.  Connecting to the Internet allows the user to stay connected with friends and family through VoIP calling, instant messaging and e-mail.  Users can also access their online communities by checking Facebook or Flickr accounts and see what's new in the lives of those they care about.

With up to 45 hours of music playback, storage for up to 7,500 songs* and built-in GPS, the Nokia N810 is perfect for the person on the go.  The Nokia N810 comes with free maps preloaded for users to browse detailed locations, search for street addresses, find various points of interest (POI) as well as nearby Wi-Fi hotspots.  Wayfinder will offer subscription based service for navigation over the Maps application; a 3-year license for $129.99 available in December.

The Nokia N810 is powered by maemo Linux-based OS2008, updatable in December also on the Nokia N800, the earlier internet tablet generation hardware.  The maemo Linux-based OS2008 features a highly customizable user interface and contains various novelties such as a Mozilla based browser with Ajax and Adobe flash 9, Bluetooth headset support as well as enhanced video and audio features.  The refreshed Video Gizmo, Skype and Rhapsody highlight some of the most popular downloads available while Boingo Wireless, Earthlink and The Cloud enable Wi-Fi connectivity, across thousands of different locations globally.

The Nokia N810 is available at consumer electronics and wireless retailers in key markets, such as select Best Buy Mobile retailers, CompUSA, Micro Center, and the Nokia Flagship stores in Chicago and New York, and a growing number of online retailers including www.amazon.com, www.buy.com, www.circuitcity.com, www.nseries.com and www.pcmall.com.  The manufacturer's suggested retail price is $479 USD

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Nokia N82 : Leading Edge Connected Camera, Navigation Device and Multimedia Computer in one

Nokia unveils the Nokia N82, the latest multimedia computer optimized for photography, navigation and internet connectivity. With the tools to discover the places and moments worth capturing, and the capabilities to capture and share them instantaneously, the Nokia N82 offers photography enthusiasts an enhanced camera experience.

Discover, capture and share

The Nokia N82 enables you to explore your surroundings and find your way with navigation and routing; document your adventures with the high quality imaging capabilities; and instantly share your experiences with one click upload to the web.

Featuring A-GPS, 5 megapixel camera, Xenon flash, Carl Zeiss optics and internet connectivity, the Nokia N82 also incorporates all the multimedia computer features common to Nokia Nseries. Like its predecessor the Nokia N95, the Nokia N82 is the latest epitome of a truly converged device that is not one thing but is many.

"The evolution of camera capabilities in mobile devices has been extremely fast over the past years. With the Nokia N82 we have reached such a superior level in image quality, speed and ease of use that not only does it outperform any other cameraphone on the market, but it's also a very credible alternative for single purpose digital still cameras," says Satu Ehrnrooth, head of Nokia Nseries Cameras Category, Multimedia, Nokia. "In addition to the high-end camera, the Nokia N82 also enables you to navigate and discover new places, enjoy your music, browse the web, play games, chat online and be part of the global web 2.0 community wherever you go.  Thanks to the wireless broadband connectivity, convergence and yet again increased performance, the Nokia N82 is all you need in your pocket!"

Discover the world

The powerful A-GPS and preinstalled* Nokia Maps help you explore and locate new places, whether in another country or just around the corner. All Nokia N82 standard sales packages come with a free voice guided navigation trial*, and you can purchase additional features, such as city guides and longer subscription to the navigation.

With access to more than 15 million points of interest, you can locate and navigate to the most interesting sights, bars or restaurants wherever you are. You can also send map excerpts and routes to friends by MMS or save map screen shots to the gallery.

Capture your experiences

With a 5 megapixel camera, powerful Xenon flash and Carl Zeiss optics, the Nokia N82 delivers remarkably vivid photographs, even in low-light conditions. Fast camera activation, autofocus with a dedicated autofocus assist lamp, fast reloading between shots and DVD-like quality video capture make it a truly convenient and credible tool for capturing and telling your life stories.

Thanks to the 2GB microSD card in the standard Nokia N82 sales package*, you can store up to 900 high-resolution photos or up to 84 minutes of high quality video on the device.

"The Nokia N82 gives the best ever camera and navigation experience in one stylish premium device. Just imagine what kind of possibilities this will open up and how much richer your every day life experiences can be! The sophisticated design and glossy looks appeal to men and women who are conscious of their style and want to impress with the latest in technology," Satu Ehrnrooth continues.

Share your stories

With high speed Wi-Fi connectivity and one-click upload to online communities, the Nokia N82 makes sharing your experiences and discoveries easy. When viewing a picture or video, simply one press of a button starts uploading it while you carry on using the device for other purposes.

Or you can impress your friends with multimedia slideshows - complete with music and effects - on the high resolution display or on a compatible TV.

The Nokia N82 comes with the new content driven 3D multimedia menu and includes a convenient orientation sensor that rotates the user interface automatically between horizontal and portrait mode. For quick and easy access to entertainment content, the Nokia N82 also supports the Ovi family of Nokia internet services, including Nokia Music Store, N-Gage games** and Nokia Maps.

The Nokia N82 is available now in key markets with an estimated, pre-tax, unsubsidized sales price of approximately 450 euros.

For details : N82

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Nokia N81 8GB now shipping

Mobile entertainment just got more fun with the Nokia N81 and Nokia N81 8GB multimedia computers now available globally. Designed for the best in music and gaming, these devices come with dedicated music and game keys and are loaded with memory so you can store more and play more.

The 3D Multimedia Menu introduced in these devices is the first step to bringing a new user interface to the Nokia Nseries range. The new menu makes it easy to discover and enjoy your digital content and the Internet, and share your experiences with others.

"Accessing your portable music and games collection is not enough anymore," said Jonas Geust, vice president, Multimedia, Nokia. "Today people want to be more in control of how and where they consume their digital entertainment. They want to discover new favorites and share them without being confined to one location - and it's devices like the Nokia N81 that facilitate this."

The Nokia N81 and Nokia N81 8GB also offer the discovery of millions of tracks through the Nokia Music Store*. And, with their integrated Nokia Music Players, creating playlists and managing music collections on the move is a breeze. For enhanced sound quality, compatible high-quality headphones or speakers can be used with the standard 3.5mm headphone connector.

The estimated retail price of the Nokia N81 is 360 EUR before subsidies or taxes. The Nokia N81 8GB is expected to retail for 430 EUR before subsidies or taxes.

Nokia N81 8GB - up to 8GB internal mass memory
Nokia N81 - support for compatible microSD cards

N81 details
N81 8GB details

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