Nokia Foundation awards the founders of Habbo v...
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Helsinki, Finland - Nokia Foundation has granted its 2008 award to
Aapo Kyrölä and Sampo Karjalainen, the founders of Sulake Corporation
Inc., which is best known for its Habbo virtual world and online
community.
The EUR 10 000 award was presented at the foundation's scholarship
awards ceremony on November 18, 2008, an event at which the
foundation also celebrated its 14th anniversary.
"Aapo Kyrölä and Sampo Karjalainen have been chosen for this award
because of their contributions to collaborative media and social
networking. The Habbo virtual world is loved by teenagers all over
the world as an easy way to meet new people and keep in touch with
friends. The design of the virtual characters is unique, and the
constantly evolving features of the collaborative game have driven
innovation in an area where competition is tough," said Henry Tirri,
Head of Nokia Research Center.
Since Sulake was founded in May 2000, over 100 million users have
registered with the Habbo service. The Habbo virtual world and online
community attracts close to 10 million unique visitors each month.
Sulake has offices in 18 countries across five continents and employs
over 300 people.
"Research is what allows a company to not only survive economic
turmoil, but actually thrive once the market has stabilized again.
R&D can be considered an insurance policy, whose premiums are paid
during good economic times, hedging against uncertainties in the
marketplace. Those companies that are able to focus their efforts and
continue to create new, innovative products will be best positioned
as the situation improves," Jorma Ollila, Chairman of Nokia's Board
of Directors, noted in his address at the Foundation's ceremony.
This year, the Nokia Foundation awarded 76 scholarships totaling EUR
399 000. 74 of the scholarships targeted the support of
fast-progressing post-graduate studies leading to doctorates in
information and data communications technology, and two were for
visiting professors.
Previous recipients of the Nokia Foundation's annual award were Lauri
Kuokkanen (1995), Pekka Tarjanne (1996), Linus Torvalds (1997), Arto
Salomaa (1998), Kullervo Nieminen (1999), Osmo A. Wiio (2000), Ilkka
Haikala (2001), Veikko Rintamäki (2002), George Metakides (2003),
Heikki Lyytinen (2004), Moncef Gabbouj (2005), MÃ¥rten Mickos (2006),
and Pekka Abrahamsson (2007).
The Nokia Foundation was formed in 1995 and supports the scientific
development of information and telecommunications technologies and
promotes education of the sector in Finland.
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.
Media Enquiries:
Nokia
Communications, Corporate Development Office
Email: cdo.communications@nokia.com
Nokia
Communications
Tel. +358 7180 34900
Email: press.services@nokia.com
www.nokia.com
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