Nokia cosies up to Trolltech and WWF

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Nokia announced two firm commitments today - one to boost its software strategy through the acquisition of Trolltech and the other to the environment by signing up to the WWF's Climate Savers programme.

The former will see the mobile phone giant make an offer of Norway Kroner 16 (£1.47) per share for Trolltech in a bid too beef up cross-platform capabilities, particularly in the area of mobile Linux.

The deal, once approved, is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.

"The technology landscape evolves and, for Nokia, software plays a major role in our growth strategy for devices, PCs and the integration with the internet. We continue to focus on areas where we can differentiate and add more value. Common cross-platform layers on top of our software platforms attract innovation and enable Web 2.0 technologies in the mobile space," said Kai Öistämö, executive vice president, of Nokia's devices division.

"Trolltech's deep understanding of open source software and its strong technology assets will enable both Nokia and others to innovate on our device platforms while reducing time-to-market. This acquisition will also further increase the competitiveness of S60 and Series 40."

In the second of the two news announcements today, which involves the WWF, Nokia pledged to complement its existing green activities, which include slashing the stand-by energy its mobile chargers consume by half, powering half of its facilities using green electricity by 2010 and reducing its overall energy consumption by six per cent by 2012.

"As the world's largest mobile company we have a responsibility to look at how we can play our part in tackling climate change," said Kirsi Sormunen, vice president of environmental affairs at Nokia. "This is not about grand gestures but everyday things that when multiplied by the scale of our operations, or the 900 million people using Nokia devices globally, can have a major impact. It also makes good business sense, helping us find new ways to be more efficient and innovative."

WWF international director general, James P. Leape, added: "WWF is delighted with Nokia's Climate Savers commitments to make significant energy savings both in its own operations and from the use of its products. When a global brand with a high consumer profile gets on board with enthusiastic climate action it reinforces the messages that we need to act globally and quickly on climate change and we can act globally and quickly."

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