Palo Alto, CA, USA, November 3, 2006 -- Nokia announced the expansion of its global research activities with the opening of a facility located in Silicon Valley. Nokia Research Center, which recently celebrated its 20 year anniversary, has a mandate to inspire innovation, drive renewal, and develop next generation mobile technologies. To foster open innovation, Nokia also announced a three-year agreement with Stanford University, to develop joint research projects on collaborative mobile computing and applications.

"Nokia Research Center is at the forefront of developing the next wave of mobile Internet innovations," said Dr. Bob Iannucci, Senior Vice President, Head of Nokia Research Center. "In our search for future disruptive technologies, Silicon Valley provides a unique blend of Internet companies, entrepreneurs and academic institutions offering a distinct environment to foster open innovation and collaboration. To this end, we are excited to establish Nokia Research Center in Palo Alto, and are particularly pleased to be working with Stanford University."

Nokia Research Center Palo Alto will initially focus on four core areas:

*Context-aware content and communities, which could provide technology advancements in the areas of search, advertising and recommendation engines;
*Wireless grids, that enable a large number of diverse devices to work together;
*Advanced user interfaces and visual media, for Nokia multimedia computers;
*Innovation radio and sensor networks, offering novel applications of emerging short-range radio technologies.

In the first of a series of planned collaborations, Nokia has signed a letter of intent to pursue joint research with Stanford University. As part of the agreement, Nokia and Stanford will focus on joint research activities that will incorporate new project-oriented courses on mobile computing and services. Given their close proximity, researchers from Nokia and Stanford will work together using the Stanford campus community as an experimental testing ground for new technologies and services developed by Nokia Research Center.

"Stanford is excited to have Nokia Research Center Palo Alto as a new neighbor. Industry collaborations have played an important role in the history of the University, and many innovations have resulted from collaborations with partners in Stanford's Industrial Park," said Jim Plummer, Dean of Stanford's School of Engineering. "On every major new computing platform, Stanford faculty has collaborated with industry on new breakthroughs. The rapid increase in computing power in mobile phones is creating another computing platform for Stanford faculty and industry to innovate."

Initially, Nokia Research Center Palo Alto will employ around 35 researchers and plans to expand to upwards of 100 researchers as new projects are established. Projects will be managed under the direction of the Head of Nokia Research Center Palo Alto, Dr. John P. Shen. Nokia now has major research facilities located in two of the leading U.S. educational and technology markets - Silicon Valley and Cambridge, MA. Nokia Research Center Cambridge is a joint effort with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and represents a long standing successful collaboration. The shared Cambridge facility was opened in April 2006.

Note to Editors:
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About Nokia:
Nokia is a world leader in mobile communications, driving the growth and sustainability of the broader mobility industry. Nokia connects people to each other and the information that matters to them with easy-to-use and innovative products like mobile phones, devices and solutions for imaging, games, media and businesses. Nokia provides equipment, solutions and services for network operators and corporations.

About Nokia Research Center:
Interacting closely with all Nokia business groups and Technology Platforms, Nokia Research Center is responsible for the strategic and long-term research in Nokia. Looking beyond current product development, the Research Center challenges current strategies and drives Nokia's renewal through long-term technology exploration. Nokia Research Center participates in the standardization work and various international R&D projects in cooperation with universities and research institutes. Nokia Research Center employs about 1,100 people and has activities in Finland, USA, Germany, Hungary, China and Japan.

Contact:
Nokia Corporate Communications (Americas)
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Communication.corp @ nokia.com

Nokia
Technology Communications
Tel. +358 7180 62278

Nokia Communications
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E-mail: press.office @ nokia.com
www.nokia.com

News Source: hugin