Nokia and ATI team to build better multimedia cellphones

Stuart Corner
Friday, 05 May 2006 03:57

Business IT - Technology

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Nokia and ATI Technologies have formed a strategic relationship to boost the multimedia capabilities of Nokia cellphones for applications such as music playback, 3D gaming, mobile TV and video.

ATI Technologies claims to be "a world leader in the design and manufacture of innovative 3D graphics and digital media silicon solutions" and to be  the world's foremost graphics processor unit  provider.  Its products are used across the full range of PC and Mac desktop and notebook platforms, as well as in workstation, set-top and digital television, game console and handheld device markets.

Ilkka Raiskinen, Nokia's  senior vice president, multimedia experiences, said: "We are announcing our collaboration with ATI now, so that developers have the next 12 to 18 months to be innovative and create world class mobile multimedia experiences."

The two companies say they aim to "drive the complexity out of multimedia development by promoting open standards and providing integrated hardware, software and tools [so that] developers need only create content once for consumers to enjoy on a range of devices."

Specifically, ATI will provide a dedicated tools chain and software development kit for developers in late 2006.