January 28, 2011 02:00 ET

Nokia to join forces with SINA and Tencent, China's leading Internet service providers, on location based services through Ovi Maps

BEIJING--(Marketwire - January 28, 2011) -

Beijing, PRC - Nokia announced today that it has signed agreements with China's two leading Internet service providers, SINA and Tencent. Both SINA and Tencent services will be seamlessly integrated with Nokia's Ovi Maps in China, inviting millions of people to share their location with friends and communities through Ovi Maps on their favorite social network.

Users of SINA microblog and Tencent's online community (QQ) will be able to share their location through Nokia mobile devices, check-in to locations and be able to upload location based content such as recommendations and comments of restaurants, shops and movie theatres. The first location based services for SINA and Tencent customers through Ovi Maps are planned to be available during the first quarter of 2011.

"This collaboration with SINA and Tencent marks a significant milestone, as we bring together mobile internet and location based services in China. More than 250 million people are using a Nokia device in China and with this partnership, we can help people share their location with their friends and communities through Ovi Maps on their favorite social network," said Phil Kemp, Vice President, Services, Nokia.

"With Nokia's Ovi Maps and Sina's location based services we will be able to offer SINA netizens new dimensions to their social networking. The mobile internet in China is growing rapidly and location based services will increase user generated content, making services more interactive and fun to use," said Wang Gaofei, Vice President of SINA.

"Location and context are becoming the core elements of mobile social networking services and we are proud to partner in this area with Nokia, the leading player in the mobile industry. We believe that with Nokia's Ovi Maps, we will offer more added value to the users of QQ Mobile Online Services, "said Liu Chengmin, President of Mobile Business, Tencent.

SINA Corporation is a leading online media company and mobile value-added service provider for China and for the global Chinese communities. With a branded network of localized websites targeting Greater China and overseas Chinese, SINA provides an array of services, including region-focused online portals, MVAS, social networking service (SNS), blog, audio and video streaming, album, online games, email, search, classified listings, fee-based services, e- commerce and enterprise e-solutions

Tencent, founded in 1998, is one of China's largest and most used Internet services portal offering Internet value-added services, mobile and telecommunications value-added services and online advertising. Tencent's leading Internet platforms in China - QQ (QQ Instant Messenger), QQ.com, QQ Games, Qzone, 3g.QQ.com, SoSo, PaiPai and Tenpay - have brought together China's largest Internet community, to meet the various needs of Internet users including communication, information, entertainment, e-commerce and others. As of September 30, 2010, the active QQ user accounts for QQ IM amounted to 636.6 million while its peak simultaneous online user accounts reached 118.7 million.

About Nokia

At Nokia, we are committed to connecting people. We combine advanced technology with personalized services that enable people to stay close to what matters to them. Every day, more than 1.3 billion people connect to one another with a Nokia device - from mobile phones to advanced smartphones and high- performance mobile computers. Today, Nokia is integrating its devices with innovative services through Ovi (www.ovi.com), including music, maps, apps, email and more. Nokia's NAVTEQ is a leader in comprehensive digital mapping and navigation services, while Nokia Siemens Networks provides equipment, services and solutions for communications networks globally.

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Source: NOKIA via Thomson Reuters ONE

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