/ 12 February 2008

Nokia to incorporate Google search in phones

Finnish cellphone giant Nokia said on Tuesday it had reached an agreement with Google to incorporate the Google search engine in its handsets.

In a first stage, the United States firm’s search technology will be available in a limited number of countries on Nokia’s high-end N96 and N78 models as well as on the Navigator 6210 and the classic 6220.

The agreement, for which financial details were not disclosed, will gradually become available in more than 100 countries in 40 languages, Nokia said in a statement.

The Google search engine is already available on Nokia internet navigators, known as Nokia Internet Tablets, and Nokia last year signed an agreement with Google to share videos from Google’s YouTube service to make them accessible on Nokia’s N95 8GB model.

The latest agreement is part of Nokia’s strategy to offer a product that combines written and oral telephone services with document and photo sharing, audio and video applications, internet navigation and online music. — AFP