Siemens and Toshiba unite for UMTS development

NEWS A spokesman for Siemens confirmed talks are taking place, but refused to comment further, although it is believed the companies hope to jointly develop a video-enabled mobile phone by early 2002. Of the major handset manufacturers Nokia is now the only company continuing with independent development in a market characterised by business alliances. Such partnerships are growing in popularity as they allow a pooling of development resources and will speed up the arrival of new technology in the marketplace. By Juergen Hoefling