Intel gains mobile traction with Nokia, Symbian

Intel Corp., the world's largest chip maker, and Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, will work together on smartphones based on Nokia's Series 60 platform and Intel technology, the chip giant said Tuesday (Oct. 5) at the Symbian Developer Conference.

Intel also said it has agreed with mobile operating system consortium Symbian Ltd to develop a reference platform to enable a new class of 3G equipment based on the Symbian operating system and XScale processors.

The Series 60, itself built around the Symbian OS, is licensed by leading handset makers, including Samsung, Siemens and Sendo. The platform has often been based on key chips from Texas Instruments Inc. and STMicroelectronics NV.

The Nokia move represents a breakthrough for Intel, which, despite strength in computers and WLAN, struggled to gain a foothold in mobile communications. It also represents a blow to Texas Instruments, which enjoyed market dominance in mobile phones, a dominance that rivals Intel's in PCs.

Intel did not identify the new type of 3G appliance under development with Symbian, but said that the reference platform would enable mobile phone manufacturers to create differentiated handsets while significantly reducing development time.

"The next generation of handsets for 3G networks will require a platform approach that couples low power and high performance with robust application development," Sam Arditi, vice president and general manager of Intel's cellular and handheld group, said in a statement.

- Peter Clarke

Silicon Strategies