Nokia today announced that it has entered into an agreement to make a public voluntary tender offer to acquire, a company headquartered in Oslo, Norway, and publicly listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Trolltech is a recognized software provider whose talented team is expected play an important role in accelerating the implementation of Nokia’s software strategy. The acquisition of Trolltech will enable Nokia to accelerate its cross-platform software strategy for mobile devices and desktop applications, and develop its Internet services business. With Trolltech, Nokia and third party developers will be able to develop applications that work in the Internet, across Nokia’s device portfolio and on PCsNokia’s software strategy for devices is based on cross-platform development environments, layers of software that run across operating systems, enabling the development of applications across the Nokia device range.

Examples of current cross-platform layers are Web runtime, Flash, Java and Open C.”For Nokia, software plays a major role in our growth strategy for devices, PCs and 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, Devices, Nokia.

Almost half of all UK mobile phone users are unlikely to use their handsets for anything other than basic voice calls, according to a survey in the Financial Times. The news came as mobile operators are meeting in Asia, trying to rouse demand for new mobile services under the next generation of mobile phones, 3G. It also comes as Japan’s Sony and Sweden’s Ericsson unveil a new set of phones with picture-messaging features. Mobile operators paid billions for the privilege of building 3G networks that offer faster internet services, video clips and colour photos. But faith in the future profitability of the telecoms market has since been seriously undermined over fears that consumers will not be prepared to pay for the latest services. Those fears are deepened by the survey published today which suggests that four in ten people in the UK have no interest in the features that 3G can offer.