Nokia And Intel Join Forces To Develop New Class Of Consumer Devices That Integrate The Internet And Digital TV
New Solutions To Be Based On Open Standards And Specifications Nokia and Intel Corporation announced that they have entered into an agreement to develop Internet-enhanced television solutions. The solutions will allow broadcasters to provide consumers with access to new, Internet-enhanced television services, as well as to an extensive range of services already available on the Internet. The first product is based on Nokia and Intel technology, open standards and specifications including Digital Video Broadcast (DVB), Internet protocols, the Advanced Television Enhancement Forum specification (ATVEF), as well as open source including Linux and the Mozilla browser. Product development is in progress and first products are expected to be introduced in the second half of 2000. Nokia and Intel share a vision for enabling the Internet to the television. Their jointly developed Internet-enhanced television solutions will help broadcasters offer consumers new programming that can fully utilize the power of the Internet. Based on open standards, such as Linux and the Mozilla browser, the product will be able to evolve at the speed of the Internet and will allow for the greatest innovation and flexibility. Heikki Koskinen, President Nokia Multimedia Terminals, comments: ""By taking the lead and creating products that work with an existing Internet-based operating system such as Linux, we can give the television industry a strong platform that will let it deliver new exciting Internet-based services to viewers. This is why we are strongly promoting standards and environments open to all service providers and manufacturers. Nokia's and Intel's joint expertise and know-how will create strong synergies and help accelerate the market for digital home platforms."" ""The Internet will change the nature of television and we are excited to be working with Nokia to make this vision a reality,'' said Claude Leglise, Vice President and General Manager of Intel's Home Products Group. ""With Nokia's extensive experience in digital broadcasting and IP technologies and Intel's technology leadership in personal computing and Internet communications, we will be able to provide the television industry with the platform to deliver to consumers new forms of Internet-enhanced programming."" The new solution will also support ATVEF, of which Intel is one of the leading founders and Nokia is an adopter. ATVEF is a baseline specification that allows content developers to write content once to run on multiple platforms via any transport. The ATVEF specification uses Internet protocols so that broadcasters can add data to a video stream. The two companies will also offer service providers software and tools to aggregate, or package, new interactive content. About Nokia Nokia is paving the way to the mobile information society with its innovative products and solutions. Nokia is the leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed and IP networks including related services. It also supplies multimedia terminals and computer displays. In 1998, net sales totaled EUR 13.3 billion (USD 15.7 billion). Headquartered in Finland, Nokia is listed on the New York (NOK), Helsinki, Stockholm, London, Frankfurt and Paris stock exchanges and employs more than 51 000 people. About Intel Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. www.intel.com