Wednesday, 25 June 2008

Nokia Acquires Social-Activity Start-Up Plazes

Nokia said Monday it is to acquire Plazes a social-activity service provider. The deal will see the communications colossus gain access to Plazes context-aware social activity service that consumers use to plan, record and share their activities...

Nokia said Monday it is to acquire Plazes a social-activity service provider.

The deal will see the communications colossus gain access to Plazes context-aware social activity service that consumers use to plan, record and share their activities such as why they are at a particular location at a certain time, whether in the past, present or future.

Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, Plazes is a privately-owned start-up with 13 employees.

"This acquisition helps Nokia to accelerate its vision of bringing people and places closer together, in line with our broader services strategy," said Niklas Savander, Head of Nokia Services & Software in a statement released yesterday.

"In addition to the key assets, through this acquisition Nokia will bring on a visionary team with an advanced understanding of social-activity services, as well as the technical ability to further develop this area."

Consumers can access Plazes via the web and update their location using a laptop or mobile phone. The offering adds the elements of "place" and "time" to social networking through features that allow people to alert friends of their activity and location; review their own and others' past activities; share their experiences and make plans with friends, who are then able to respond with comments and suggestions as well as their own location information.

With the acquisition, the Finnish vendor aims to extend its context-based service offering with social presence and time-based activity planning features.

"Nokia shares our vision of the social activity space and of how we can together develop the service that Plazes provides today," said Felix Petersen, co-founder of Plazes.

"We feel proud of what the Plazes team has achieved so far with its pioneering work in context-aware services and we feel even more excited about what's to come next."

Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed, but the deal is expected to close in the third quarter 2008. After closing, Plazes will become part of Nokia's Services & Software unit.