Nokia goes to tinsel town

Hoping to make it big in the flicks

Posted in Mobile, 21st November 2008 10:43 GMT

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Continuing to distance itself from boring-old mobile phones, Nokia has announced plans to open a research lab in Hollywood packed with movie executives rather than those engineers the company so recently laid off in Finland.

Nokia believes a presence in the city of dreams can reinvigorate its headlong plunge into Web 2.0, even as everyone else is complaining the water is colder than promised and trying to climb out.

"Opening our latest laboratory in Hollywood is a key milestone for Nokia. Engaging more actively with the entertainment and media community and establishing a research force there is a significant step for Nokia as we continue to build our position as a leader in the converging worlds of Internet and mobility," said Henry Tirri, who will be running the place.

Apparently the Nokia Research Center Hollywood will have a "strong emphasis on entertainment and associated experiences, research topics will include mixed reality, content creation and user interface experiences" - clearly work that couldn't have been done anywhere else.

Earlier this month the mobile phone giant put 130 research staff at risk with its "sharpened focus", but there's little hope of them getting redeployed to the West Coast as Nokia will be "recruiting from and collaborating with the Hollywood entertainment, media and art communities".

Nokia is the unlikely star of a Hollywood dream, and the company will probably end up working as a waitress for a few years before middle age puts such thoughts to rest, or the money runs out, or both. ®

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