22 January 2008

Nokia And Facebook Working On Mobile Deal;
Could Involve Investment!

Facebook is negotiating with Nokia over a mobile tool that could see the social networking site built into hundreds of thousands of phone handsets. There is no word if it will be S60 exclusively or Nokia planning to put it on the S4$0 phones a well.

The Facebook placement could be as prominent as the YouTube button on the main screen of iPhone, our sources indicate. Also, the deal involves giving Facebook a major slot within Nokia retail products’ displays.

Nokia is also reported to be negotiating with Facebook about buying a small stake in the company and an unnamed executive confirmed that "a partnership is in the works".

A senior Nokia executive, speaking on background, declined to go into details about the pact with Facebook: “There is talk of a partnership in the works… it’s safe to say we’re testing the waters and things still have to be worked out.” E-mails and phone calls seeking comment on the deal from Nokia and Facebook representatives were not returned.

Nokia has of late been working on a slew of services for the mobile, including its mobile web service Ovi, its mobile social network Mosh (which hasn’t really rocked the world since its launch last year), and its recent spate of acquisitions in the larger media applications space. Also in October, it announced a deal to provide a year’s free access to Universal’s music catalog on some Nokia phones.

.:[ read the full storry over at ]:.