Symbian and Beatnik partner to enable rich audio experiences for next generation mobile handsets

Beatnik Audio Engine integrated with Symbian OS

London, England and San Mateo, CA - November 20, 2001- Symbian and Beatnik, Inc., a leading provider of structured audio software solutions for mobile devices, today announced that the two companies will enable today's 2G and 2.5G networks to offer high quality, structured audio multimedia and entertainment services through the integration of the Beatnik Audio Engine (BAE) and Symbian OS. Beatnik will join Symbian's Technology Partner program, which focuses on supporting companies that provide enabling technologies to complement Symbian OS. The companies agree to partner on the marketing and development of technologies that will be used in Symbian OS devices on a worldwide basis.

Using Beatnik's structured audio engine technology, licensees of Symbian OS will be able to enable the delivery of rich musical ring tone services and peer-to-peer multimedia messaging, offering increased revenue opportunities for the wireless industry. Mobile device users will have access to a wide range of custom audio and music content, audio enabled applications and services. The Beatnik Audio Engine within a Symbian OS based mobile device provides an interactive audio resource that can be used by all applications on the device, enabling a richer user experience. As an example, interactive games applications will be able to deliver realistic sound effects and audio cues as well as graphical output.

"Having licensed Symbian OS to major handset manufacturers we're now seeing Symbian OS devices shipping worldwide," said Mark Edwards, EVP, Sales & Marketing, Symbian. "Our focus now is on working with technology partners to drive compelling content, applications and services for mobile phones based on our open, advanced operating system. With the help of partners like Beatnik, we will reach our goal."

Symbian Technology Partners  Program offers leading technology specialists the opportunity to work closely with Symbian in developing enabling technologies and engage in co-marketing campaigns, thus adding value to the Symbian OS. Symbian will also assist Technology Partners in engaging directly with Symbian's licensees, enabling rapid time-to-market for a wide range of wireless devices. Symbian's licensees include Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic, Psion, Sanyo, and Siemens.

"Beatnik is committed to work closely with Symbian to provide fit for purpose audio solutions for their operating system," said Jeremy Copp, SVP, Sales & Marketing, Beatnik. "We are providing the key components in the future of entertainment in the wireless market. Together, we will enable the creation of rich ring tones, game sound effects, multimedia messaging, and audio content delivery to smartphones and other mobile devices."

The BAE enables users to experience instantaneous high-quality audio using extremely small file sizes. The BAE is a hardware-independent software solution that provides a complete audio sub-system including a wavetable synthesizer & sequencer, effects processor and stereo mixer. The BAE can play back and mix popular formats such as XMF, MP3, WAV, AIFF and MIDI. The BAE enhances MIDI by adding custom samples to recreate the original sound of the music or audio. It also circumvents many of the piracy concerns associated with file formats such as MP3 and MIDI by the use of a proprietary Beatnik security mechanism.

About Beatnik

Beatnik licenses scalable structured audio software solutions for mobile devices that enable rich multimedia content delivery and an enhanced user experience for games and device interaction. Beatnik markets its core software technology and audio content development tools to mobile device manufacturers and a community of creative professionals. Incorporated in 1996, Beatnik was founded by musician and composer Thomas Dolby Robertson.
For more information see Beatnik

About Symbian

Symbian owns, develops and licenses a software platform for next generation mobile phones. Owned by Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic and Psion, Symbian's mission is to license the Symbian platform to all mobile phone manufacturers and to create a mass market for next generation mobile phones by working closely with wireless networks, content, services, messaging and enterprise wide solution providers.
For more information see  Symbian  

Media Enquiries

Please direct enquiries to: Symbian +44 207 154 1383 press@symbian.com	Jason Taylor Beatnik, Inc. 650.740.8058 jason@beatnik.com
Sheri Dupart Beatnik, Inc. 650.571.0420 sheri@beatnik.com