Nokia and RealNetworks®, Inc announced that the companies are expanding their longstanding deal , under which Nokia will build support for RealNetworks' media formats into many of its advanced mobile devices. The agreement will help both companies to achieve their mutual goal of enabling robust media functionality on mass-market mobile devices. In addition, the two companies today announced that Nokia has joined the Helix community.
The Helix community is a collaborative effort among RealNetworks , independent developers, and leading companies to extend the Helix DNA™ platform, the first open multi-format platform for digital media creation, delivery and playback.
The Helix agreement builds on the existing collaboration between Nokia and RealNetworks that began in 2002 and made RealPlayer the standard media player of the Series 60 Platform, providing Nokia and other Series 60 licensees the flexibility to deliver media functionality to smart phones.
"The new licensing and development model with Real fully supports Nokia's multi-format strategy and our commitment to respond to our customers' needs with best-in-breed solutions, such as RealAudio and RealVideo," said Antti Vasara, Vice President, Mobile Software Sales and Marketing, Nokia. "Today, the successful collaboration between Nokia and Real has resulted in the delivery of over 20 unique handset models based on Series 60 and Symbian operating system with RealPlayer capability, to millions of consumers worldwide".
"Our momentous relationship represents a major milestone for digital mobile media services. The Nokia-Real relationship is enabling consumers around the globe to enjoy digital media wherever and whenever they want," said Aref Matin, Vice President, Carrier and System Software, RealNetworks, Inc. "Working with Nokia we will leverage more powerful and flexible technologies to deliver compelling mobile content experiences to an even broader range of Nokia devices, which will enable content owners, operators and consumers to reap the rewards of the promise of 3G".
As a member of the Helix Community, (www.helixcommunity.org), Nokia will work with engineers in the community to develop and port Helix-based media technology including the Helix DNA client media engine, along with RealAudio and RealVideo, to a broad range of Nokia devices and to the Series 60 Platform.
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