Mobile leaders to unify the Symbian software pl...

Corporate news announcement processed and transmitted by Hugin ASA.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this 
announcement. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------    



Corporate news announcement processed and transmitted by Hugin ASA.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this 
announcement. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------    




Foundation to be established to provide royalty-free open platform
and accelerate innovation

London, UK - Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and NTT DOCOMO announced
today their intent to unite Symbian OS(TM), S60, UIQ and MOAP(S) to
create one open mobile software platform. Together with AT&T, LG
Electronics, Samsung Electronics, STMicroelectronics, Texas
Instruments and Vodafone they plan to establish the Symbian
Foundation to extend the appeal of this unified software platform.
Membership of this non-profit Foundation will be open to all
organizations. This initiative is supported by current shareholders
and management of Symbian Limited, who have been actively involved in
its development.  Plans for the Foundation have already received wide
support from other industry leaders.

To enable the Foundation, Nokia today announced plans to acquire the
remaining shares of Symbian Limited that Nokia does not already own
and then contribute the Symbian and S60 software to the Foundation.
Sony Ericsson and Motorola today announced their intention to
contribute technology from UIQ and DOCOMO has also indicated its
willingness to contribute its MOAP(S) assets. From these
contributions, the Foundation will provide a unified platform with
common UI framework. A full platform will be available for all
Foundation members under a royalty-free license, from the
Foundation's first day of operations.

Contributions from Foundation members through open collaboration will
be integrated to further enhance the platform. The Foundation will
make selected components available as open source at launch. It will
then work to establish the most complete mobile software offering
available in open source. This will be made available over the next
two years and is intended to be released under Eclipse Public License
(EPL) 1.0.

The Foundation's platform will build on the leading open mobile
software platform, with more than 200 million phones, across 235
models, already shipped by multiple vendors and tens of thousands of
third-party applications already available for Symbian OS-based
devices.

"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."

"Establishing the Foundation is one of the biggest contributions to
an open community ever made," said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CEO of
Nokia. "Nokia is a strong supporter of open platforms and
technologies as they give the freedom to build, maintain and evolve
applications and services across device segments and offer by far the
largest ecosystem, enabling rapid innovation. Today's announcement is
a major milestone in our devices software strategy."

"The complete, consistent platform that the Foundation plans to
provide will allow manufacturers to focus on their unique
differentiation at a device level" said Dick Komiyama, President of
Sony Ericsson. "Sony Ericsson believes that the unified Symbian
Foundation platform will greatly simplify the world for handset
manufacturers, operators and developers, enabling greater innovation
in services and applications to the benefit of consumers everywhere."

"Motorola has long been a leader and advocate of open software for
mobile platforms. We're excited to be joining Nokia, Sony Ericsson,
NTT DOCOMO and others in leading this open source effort to form the
new Symbian Foundation and unite the Symbian ecosystem," said Alain
Mutricy, Senior Vice President, Platforms & Technology Office,
Motorola Mobile Devices. "Also, Motorola, together with Sony
Ericsson, will be contributing UIQ technology to the Foundation and
will work with UIQ as they are refocusing as an important supplier in
the new Symbian ecosystem.  This will be a great addition, as the
Foundation will be able to leverage UIQ's unique experience, which
includes expertise in touch technology."

"DOCOMO welcomes this development and we look forward to moving our
Symbian based devices and service onto the Foundation platform. We
are also willing to contribute our MOAP(S) assets to the Foundation.
This is a very positive step in further increasing the adoption of
the Symbian software and creating an even more open, consistent and
complete platform. The Foundation software will enable us to enjoy
the benefits of a global platform in bringing new, leading-edge
services to the Japanese market. It will increase efficiency and help
us provide our wide customer base with the most advanced mobile
experiences." said Toshio Miki, Associate Senior Vice President,
Managing Director of Communication Device Development Department of
NTT DOCOMO.

"Mobile phones have turned into sophisticated multimedia computers
and smart phones continue to grow in popularity," said Kris Rinne,
Senior Vice President of Architecture and Planning at AT&T. "The
Symbian Foundation will reduce fragmentation in the industry and
holds the promise of incorporating leading technology and the most
mature software into a unified platform for the entire industry.
This will create an environment that will encourage and enable
developers to build compelling applications that will positively
affect our customers' lives and support AT&T in offering its
differentiated services to consumers."

"Joining the Symbian Foundation is an ideal opportunity for LG to
broaden our commitment to providing our customers with the best
possible mobile experience" said Dr. Skott Ahn, President and CEO of
LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. "We believe that open
mobile platforms will contribute to advance the mobile industry. At
LG we will play a leading role in creating a better mobile
environment, working with the Symbian Foundation to provide our
customers with smart new features based on this open platform."

"Samsung Electronics is committed to Symbian as one of the future
platforms for our mobile devices and believes that establishing the
Foundation is a visionary move in positioning the platform as a
proven open platform for future development. We are delighted to be
playing a significant role in that future by joining the Foundation
board. We have already used Symbian and S60 software successfully to
deliver appealing devices and see these steps making the platform
even more attractive for bringing the latest technologies and
services to the market" said Dr. Do Hun Kwon, VP & Managing Director,
Samsung Electronics Research Institute.

"ST sees strong consumer demand, across all segments, for a richer
multimedia experience," said Monica de Virgiliis, General Manager of
the Wireless Multimedia Division, STMicroelectronics. "This new
foundation synchronizes and harmonizes the mainstream software
approach to address this need and makes the software widely
available. We anticipate this will fuel the growth of
multimedia-capable devices and we are excited about being able to
leverage our long-standing leadership in consumer digital multimedia
to satisfy more and more consumers."

"TI has long supported open platforms, and we are excited about the
formation of the Symbian Foundation. We believe the new structure
will remove barriers to innovation in the mobile industry by
providing a common platform on which exciting next-generation
applications and services can be built," said Greg Delagi, senior
vice president of TI's Wireless Business Unit.  "Manufacturers can
get a head-start on development with TI's proven OMAP-based Symbian
S60 software development platform.  Combined with the Foundation's
open collaboration model, this will allow more developers to harness
the performance and multimedia capabilities of the OMAP family to
accelerate improvements in the mobile user experience."

"Vodafone believes this is a significant step in driving mobile
innovation for the Internet as well as creating a richer mobile
experience for our customers" said Jens Schulte-Bockum, Vodafone's
Global Director of Terminals. "We have been challenging the industry
to reduce complexity and focus on fewer operating systems. This step
will help to drive even faster innovation, as well as enable
operators to accelerate time-to-market for compelling and varied new
services."

Foundation members share the vision that the Foundation will unify
the software platform, supercharge innovation and accelerate the
availability of new services and compelling experiences for consumers
and business users around the world. The combined platform is already
one of the most advanced and widely used mobile platforms, making it
highly attractive for all ecosystem partners, including developers,
mobile operators, content and service providers and device
manufacturers.

The Foundation is expected to start operating during the first half
of 2009, subject to the closing of the acquisition of Symbian Ltd by
Nokia.

Note to Editors:

A press conference will be webcast live from London today at 11:00 UK
time and will be available for replay later. Please visit
www.symbianfoundation.org to see the webcast.

Further information about Symbian Foundation is available at
www.symbianfoundation.org.

Media Enquiries:

AT&T Inc
Mark Siegel
Tel. [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

LG Electronics, Inc.
Soodong Kim
Tel. [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Motorola, Inc.
Jennifer Erickson
Tel. [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Nokia
Communications
Tel. [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

NTT DOCOMO
Shuichiro Ichikoshi or Masaki Okamura
International PR
Public Relations Department
Tel. [phone]

Samsung Electronics Co,, Ltd.
Sophia Kim
Tel. [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Sony Ericsson
Merran Wrigley
Global Communications & PR
Tel. [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

STMicroelectronics
Maria Grazia Prestini
Senior Director, Corporate Media and Public Relations
Tel. + 41 22 929 6945
Email: [e-mail]

Symbian
Karen Hamblen or Katie Buckett
Media Relations
Tel. [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Texas Instruments
Tracy Wright
Wireless Media Relations
Tel. [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Vodafone
Group Media Relations
Tel. [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

About AT&T
AT&T Inc (NYSE:T( is a premier communications holding company.  Its
subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the
providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the
world.  Among their offerings are the world's most advanced IP-based
business communications services and the nation's leading wireless,
high speed internet access and voice services.  In domestic markets,
AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales
leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and
the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as
communications equipment.  As part of its three-screen integration
strategy, AT&T is expanding TV offerings.  In 2008, AT&T again ranked
No. 1 on Fortune magazine's World's Most Admired Telecommunications
Company list.  Additional information about AT&T Inc and the products
and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is
available at 

http://www.att.com.

About LG Electronics, Inc.
LG Electronics, Inc. (KSE: 066570.KS) is a global leader and
technology innovator in consumer electronics, home appliances and
mobile communications, employing more than 82,000 people working in
114 operations including 82 subsidiaries around the world. With 2007
global sales of USD 44 billion, LG is comprised of four business
units - Mobile Communications, Digital Appliance, Digital Display and
Digital Media. LG is the world's leading producer of mobile handsets,
flat panel TVs, air conditioners, front-loading washing machines,
optical storage products, DVD players and home theater systems.

LG Electronics Mobile Communication Company (LG) is a leading
producer of mobile handsets. LG creates handsets that provide
optimized mobile experience to customers around the world with its
cutting-edge technology and innovative handset design capabilities.
With advanced wireless solutions, LG is rapidly expanding its
presence and market share globally. For more information, please
visit www.lge.com.

About Motorola
Motorola is known around the world for innovation in communications.
The company develops technologies, products and services that make
mobile experiences possible. Our portfolio includes communications
infrastructure, enterprise mobility solutions, digital set-tops,
cable modems, mobile devices and Bluetooth accessories. Motorola is
committed to delivering next generation communication solutions to
people, businesses and governments. A Fortune 100 company with global
presence and impact, Motorola had sales of US $36.6 billion in 2007.
For more information about our company, our people and our
innovations, please visit 

http://www.Motorola.com.

About Nokia
Nokia is the world leader in mobility, driving the transformation and
growth of the converging Internet and communications industries. We
make a wide range of mobile devices with services and software that
enable people to experience music, navigation, video, television,
imaging, games, business mobility and more. Developing and growing
our offering of consumer Internet services, as well as our enterprise
solutions and software, is a key area of focus. We also provide
equipment, solutions and services for communications networks through
Nokia Siemens Networks.

About NTT DOCOMO
NTT DOCOMO is the world's leading mobile communications company.
DOCOMO serves over 53 million customers, including 44 million people
subscribing to FOMATM, launched as the world's first 3G mobile
service based on W-CDMA in 2001. DOCOMO also offers a wide variety of
leading-edge mobile multimedia services, including i-mode(TM), the
world's most popular mobile e-mail/Internet service, used by 48
million people. With the addition of credit-card and other e-wallet
functions, DOCOMO mobile phones have become highly versatile tools
for daily life. NTT DOCOMO is listed on the Tokyo (9437), London
(NDCM) and New York (DCM) stock exchanges. For more information,
visit www.nttdocomo.com.
i-mode and FOMA are trademarks or registered trademarks of NTT
DOCOMO, INC. in Japan and other countries. NTT DOCOMO's FOMA service
is only available to subscribers in Japan.

About Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor,
telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies
with 2007 consolidated sales of US$103.4 billion. Employing
approximately 150,000 people in 134 offices in 62 countries, the
company consists of four main business units: Digital Media Business,
LCD Business, Semiconductor Business, and Telecommunication Business.
Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung
Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips,
mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit
www.samsung.com.

About Sony Ericsson
Having sold over 100 million phones in 2007, Sony Ericsson is
currently one of the five largest mobile phone manufacturers in the
world.  An important industry player operating in over 80 countries,
our phones, accessories and PC cards are synonymous with innovation
and style.  With R&D sites in Europe, Japan, China, India and North
America, diversity is one of the core strengths of the company.  Sony
Ericsson was established as a 50:50 joint venture by Sony and
Ericsson in October 2001, with global corporate functions located in
London. For more information about Sony Ericsson please visit
www.sonyericsson.com.

About STMicroelectronics
STMicroelectronics is a global leader in developing and delivering
semiconductor solutions across the spectrum of microelectronics
applications. An unrivalled combination of silicon and system
expertise, manufacturing strength, Intellectual Property (IP)
portfolio and strategic partners positions the Company at the
forefront of System-on-Chip (SoC) technology and its products play a
key role in enabling today's convergence markets. The Company's
shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, on Euronext Paris
and on the Milan Stock Exchange. In 2007, the Company's net revenues
were $10 billion. Further information on ST can be found at
www.st.com.

About Symbian
Symbian is a software licensing company that develops and licenses
Symbian OS, the market-leading open operating system for mobile
phones. Symbian licenses Symbian OS to the world's leading handset
manufacturers and has built close co-operative business relationships
with leading companies across the mobile industry. During Q1 2008,
18.5 million Symbian mobile phones were sold worldwide to over 250
major network operators, bringing the total number of units shipped
up to 31 March 2008 to 206 million. Symbian has its headquarters in
London, United Kingdom, with offices in the United States, United
Kingdom, Asia (India, P.R. China, and Korea) and Japan. For more
information, please visit www.symbian.com.

About Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) helps customers solve problems and
develop new electronics that make the world smarter, healthier,
safer, greener and more fun.   A global semiconductor company, TI
innovates through manufacturing, design and sales operations in more
than 25 countries.  For more information, go to www.ti.com.

About Vodafone
Vodafone is the world's leading international mobile communications
group with over 260 million proportionate customers as of 31st March
2008. Vodafone currently has equity interests in 25 countries across
five continents and a further 42 partner networks worldwide. For more
information, please visit www.vodafone.com

Symbian and all Symbian based trademarks and logos are trademarks of
Symbian Software Limited.  The operation of the proposed Symbian
Foundation remains subject to regulatory approvals.  Until such
approvals are obtained, and the Symbian Foundation has become fully
operational, Symbian Software Limited retains exclusive
responsibility for all licensing and marketing activities related to
Symbian OS.


Further statements of support for the Symbian Foundation

"This new initiative brings together the rare combination of a proven
software operating system and an open source model, creating a unique
platform to drive innovation in the mobile handset," said Scott
Bibaud, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Mobile Platforms
Group, Broadcom. "Broadcom's participation in the Symbian Foundation
is consistent with our goals of enabling differentiated software
solutions while providing a time-to-market advantage with our
advanced mobile platform products."

"Digia is excited about this initative, as we have been part of the
ecosystem for many years investing in skills and expertise in these
technologies", said Mr. Juha Varelius, President and CEO of Digia.
"We believe that the Foundation will mean increased business
opportunities for us, as more OEMs are attracted to develop products
for the platform and can benefit from our world class services in the
creation of smartphones."

"This unified platform will streamline our game development process
and allow us to focus more on content creation than on deployment,"
said Barry Cottle, EA Mobile senior vice president and general
manager. "This announcement encourages the proliferation of
smartphones, which in turn will allow us to concentrate on what we do
best, creating richer, more engaging and dynamic gaming experiences
for more customers worldwide."

"Ericsson Mobile Platforms is committed to open standards and
strongly believe the creation of the Symbian Foundation is a major
leap forward for the handset industry, fueling creativity and driving
end user experience to new levels", said Robert Puskaric, Head of
Ericsson Mobile Platforms. "All of our open OS platforms will support
future software releases from the establishment of the Symbian
Foundation."

"Through the Freescale MXC architecture, we have consistently
invested in S60 on Symbian designs and have become a trusted platform
provider within the S60 Product Creation Community," said Tom
Deitrich, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Cellular
Products Group at Freescale. "We see the establishment of the Symbian
Foundation as an ideal approach to accelerate industry innovation and
expand our customer relationships. Freescale is proud to support this
exciting new opportunity and looks forward to working with the
Foundation members to bring new services to the marketplace."

"Fujitsu is pleased to be one of the first supporters of plans for
the Symbian Foundation, " said Hideyuki Saso, president of the Mobile
Phones Unit at Fujitsu Limited (www.fujitsu.com). "Fujitsu has long
been an innovator in the development of handsets based on the Symbian
OS, launching our development efforts in 2001 and commercializing the
world's first Symbian OS-based 3G smartphone in 2003. Over the past
seven years, we've brought a broad range of innovative,
high-performance Symbian smartphones to market while collaborating
with NTT DOCOMO on the development of MOAP(S). As a handset vendor,
Fujitsu looks forward to supporting the development of the unified
Foundation platform, and to developing future products based on the
platform."

"This is a positive development for the open source community" said
Olaf Swantee, Head of Orange's Global Mobile Operations, "further
supporting Orange's strategy to deliver exciting multimedia content
to our customers through our Signature device programme. Orange has
always been a supporter of defragmentation and the Symbian Foundation
will bring us one step closer."

"Establishing an open Foundation is essential to driving innovation
in the mobile space," said Krishna Vedati, CEO of Plusmo, a mobile
widget service provider for Symbian devices. "We're proud to be a
part of this watershed moment in our industry, pushing the boundaries
in development and delivering outstanding, multimedia user
experiences on this proven platform."

"Consumers worldwide are eager for an unleashing of innovation on
mobile communications devices," said Cole Brodman, Chief Technology
and Innovation Officer, T-Mobile. "By joining with others in this
initiative, T-Mobile continues its longstanding support of open
mobile development platforms as a way to foster breakthrough
innovation in service to our customers."

"Being a global leader of providing software services for the mobile
industry, Teleca applauds the establishment of the Symbian
Foundation" said René Svendsen-Tune, CEO at Teleca. "Today, we have
over 500 system architects and software engineers working on Symbian,
S60 or UIQ platforms around the world. We bring value to the OEM
eco-system by performing development work, systems integration,
device customization or test. As the Foundation moves to establish a
unified global platform, we have the skills, expertise, global reach
and scale to support existing and new OEMs in developing innovative
new products, wherever they are. We expect the Foundation will enable
us to operate even more efficiently with our customers by taking
advantage of the scale and innovation a unified and open platform
will bring."

"As an early member and a leading global provider of services to
companies in Symbian and S60 ecosystems, Wipro believes the plans for
the Symbian Foundation and the evolution of the platform has the
potential to transform the mobile industry. Global availability of
this platform will enable Wipro in collaborating with device vendors,
technology providers, communication service providers and enterprises
in realizing innovative communication solutions", said Sudip Nandy,
President, Technology, Media and Telecom Group, Wipro Technologies.


 
--- End of Message ---

NOKIA
P.O. Box 226<br>FIN-00045 NOKIA GROUP   Espoo 

WKN: 870737; 
ISIN: FI0009000681; Index: DJ STOXX Large 200, DJ STOXX 50;
Listed: Nordic list (Large Cap) in THE HELSINKI STOCK EXCHANGE;