Nokia planning Snapdragon-based Symbian phone

Ben Woods

The Snapdragon CEO has let slip that Nokia is planning to release its first Snapdragon-based handset before the end of the year

Published on Feb 19, 2010

Qualcomm's CEO Paul Jacobs has revealed that the company will be developing a Nokia device integrating Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor and kernel.

According to a report on IntoMobile.com, which cites a Finnish newspaper interview, there have been a number of reasons that Nokia hasn't yet integrated the processor.

Long-running legal challenges over wireless patents made enemies of the two companies for a long-time, but this was eventually settled in the Summer of 2008 with Nokia agreeing to a 15-year licensing fee for using the technology.

The total sum of the settlement was undisclosed, but at the time the lawsuit was said to have “hundreds of millions dollars at stake”.

Of course, it's not a total surprise to hear that there's a Snapdragon Nokia handset on the way - the two companies issued a press release last year saying that all was rosy and that work was underway.

The Snapdragon kernel is gaining in popularity for high-end smartphones as it brings with it a whole range of functionality including Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and network connectivity. And you thought it was just a powerhouse of a processor, didn't you?