The Channel Wire

June 23, 2009

The good news is that Intel and Nokia didn't rule out 3G-enabled cybernetic implants in announcing a long-term collaborative effort to develop the next generation of mobile computing devices. In fact, the companies were so noncommittal about specific products that might emerge from their shiny, new joint venture that by the end of Tuesday's teleconference, journalists and analysts were essentially listing various likely devices and begging for an up-or-down vote from the Intel and Nokia spokesmen.

Unfortunately for the smartphone and netbook junkies, those details weren't forthcoming. The purpose of Tuesday's announcement was to highlight three key areas where Intel and Nokia would be pooling their resources in the coming years, said Anand Chandrasekher, senior vice president of Intel's ultra-mobility group, refusing to speculate about devices that might result from that collaboration.

"We'll talk about products when we're ready to talk about products," said Chandrasekher, in response to multiple inquiries.

The first leg of the joint venture is a commitment by Tampere, Finland-based Nokia to build mobile devices on the x86-based hardware platforms that Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel is developing for smartphones, netbooks, mobile Internet devices (MIDs) and as-yet-unknown future categories. That seems pretty open-ended, but Kai Oistamo, Nokia's executive vice president for devices, was emphatic that the agreement would have "no impact" on Nokia's partnerships with various manufacturers of the ARM-based mobile processors that power its current handsets.

Intel and Nokia will also work together to develop an open-source operating system for mobile devices, bringing together the Moblin OS that Intel developed for products based on its own low-voltage Atom processors and Nokia's Linux-based Maemo OS, currently found in the Finnish company's N810 Internet tablet.

Finally, the most concrete part of the new arrangement -- Intel will acquire a license for Nokia's HSPA and 3G technologies to use in upcoming mobile hardware offerings. Chandrasekher called the addition of the wireless broadband standard to its arsenal "complementary" to Intel's existing investments in WiFi and WiMAX, rather than a change in strategy towards delivering broadband connectivity on future platforms.

But for all the hoopla, Chandrasekher and Oistamo steadfastly refused to be drawn into a product road map discussion. The closest they came to shining a light on what might result from the joint venture was when Chandrasekher mentioned that "it's well known" that Intel has "had a desire to grow our business in the smartphone industry for a while."

Indeed, Intel in February laid out plans to collaborate with Nokia competitor LG Electronics on a new range of MIDs with "high-end smartphone functionality" based on the chip maker's Atom-based hardware platform code-named Moorestown.

Intel and Nokia declined to disclose the amount of resources or capital that would be committed to their new partnership.