Original URL: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/05/04/ati_nokia_multimedia_deal/
ATI, Nokia converge on phone multimedia
Heralds major Imageon design win?
4th May 2006 11:46 GMT
ATI may have scored a major design win for its mobile phone graphics chips: the world's leading handset maker, Nokia. The pair today announced they are to make it easier for developers to create multimedia material for phones, giving content creators a "12-18 months" heads-up, presumably a launch target for ATI-powered Nokia handsets.
The two companies described today's announcement as the start of a "long-term strategic relationship to bring enhanced mobile multimedia experiences to Nokia customers". While the pair's statement focused on providing a development framework to simplify the delivery of such content, there'd be little in it for ATI if it wasn't expecting to sell a chip or two on the back of the deal. That suggests a design win for its Imageon handset GPU line.
The announcement of the Nokia partnership comes two days after ATI said it was acquiring mobile graphics specialist Bitboys (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/05/02/ati_buys_bitboys/) to boost its work in that segment and to create a European R&D centre. Bitboys, like Nokia, is based in Finland.
ATI and Nokia said they plan to promote a 'write once, run anywhere' - now where have we heard that one before? - approach to multimedia, to push "open standards and to offer developers "integrated hardware, software and tools". The first code will come next autumn: ATI said it will deliver a tool chain and SDK in that timeframe. Both will run development workshops in the second half of the year. ®