Nokia acquires Symbian tool set from Metrowerks

WAYNE, N.J. — Nokia said Wednesday (Sept. 8) that it has bought the Symbian development tool product line from Austin, Texas-based Metroworks, a move that could allow Nokia to have a stronger grip on Symbian-based designs.

Nokia has been making a hard play at taking more control of the Symbian OS since early 2004. During the past year, the company purchased shares in Symbian from Psion, thus allowing Nokia to gain significant control over the development of the Symbian OS. Now, through the acquisition agreement announced with Metrowerks, Nokia could also take control of the Symbian development tool chain.

Under the acquisition agreement, Nokia will purchase the CodeWarrior Symbian toolset from Metrowerks, which includes Symbian extensions, Java extensions, and intellectual property (IP). Additionally, Nokia will pick up 24 engineers from Metrowerks working on the Symbian toolset.

In return, Nokia has agreed to license core embedded development tools, such as a debugger and compiler, that lie at the heart of the Symbian development suite from Metrowerks. Additionally, Metrowerks will become a reseller of the Nokia toolset.

From a developer perspective, Forum Nokia Vice President Lee Epting said that the acquisition will provide tighter integration with Nokia's Symbian platform while also providing a faster evolution path for the tools. "We'll be able to evolve the tools faster," Epting said.

Metrowerks also sees a chance to enhance its core debugger, compiler, and other development tools now that the Symbian product line has been handed off to Nokia. "We can now accelerate the development of our core technology," said Metrowerks President/CEO Matt Harris.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2004. Once complete, Nokia plans to establish a development center in Austin that will house the 24 employees acquired from Metrowerks. Financial terms of the deal were not released.