Finnish cellphone maker Nokia has bought Norwegian technology startup Smarterphone AS to add more advanced features to its basic cellphone models.<\/p>\n
Nokia, left in the dust by Apple Inc and Google Inc in the booming smartphone market, has also struggled to hold on to its lead in lower-end markets, under pressure from Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.<\/p>\n
Oslo-based Smarterphone, which has a team of 15 people, has created a software platform which it says enables a smartphone-like user experience on cheap hardware.<\/p>\n
“The increasing competition on high-end smartphones makes Nokia’s low-end software more important in the future. They need to bring Series 40 to a new level,” said John Strand, founder of Danish telecoms consultancy Strand Consult.<\/p>\n
Nokia has sold hundreds of millions of basic cellphones running its 10-year old Series 40 software platform, which many analysts say is too basic to compete against smartphones cheaper than $100 running Google’s Android software.<\/p>\n
A Nokia spokesman said the acquisition is part of the Finnish firm’s strategy of expanding mobile Internet usage to a billion more consumers, the second focus — after revamping smartphone offerings — in the strategy of Chief Executive Stephen Elop.<\/p>\n
Smarterphone investors include venture firm Ferd Capital, and Haavard Nord, founder of Norwegian mobile software firm Trolltech, which Nokia acquired in 2008. Ferd Capital said it has invested a total of 6.5 million euros in Smarterphone since 2007.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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