PALO ALTO, Calif.—Nokia Corp. has expanded its long-term research-and-development efforts by establishing a branch of its Nokia Research Center in Silicon Valley. The Finnish handset giant also announced a collaborative research effort in mobile computing and applications with Stanford University.
Nokia cited the area’s “unique blend” of Internet companies, entrepreneurs and academic institutions as contributing to its decision on the location in its search for disruptive technologies.
The Nokia Research Center is 20 years old, employs about 1,100 people and already has branches in Finland, Germany, Hungary, China, Japan and the United States. The Nokia Research Center Cambridge opened in April.
Nokia Research Center Palo Alto will initially employ about 35 people and will expand to 100 staff, according to Nokia’s plans. It will initially focus on four areas: context-aware technologies that could contribute to search and advertising applications; wireless grids that enable large numbers of devices to work together; advanced user interfaces and visual media for multimedia computers; and radio and sensor networks for short-range radio technologies.
