Nokia Opens New Research Center in Hollywood

Nokia has opened a new research facility in Hollywood, where it plans to develop a range of entertainment-related applications and technologies.

Researchers at the facility will work on various media projects involving film, music, games, the Web and television, the company said in a statement. Research topics will revolve around content creation, user interface development and community interaction.

The lab expects to build new user interfaces that could incorporate more natural forms of interaction, Nokia said.

The company plans to recruit from and collaborate with the Hollywood entertainment community, and will work with the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Southern California, it said.

Nokia also has U.S. research centers in Palo Alto, California, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, as well as facilities in Europe and Beijing.

When Nokia opened its Palo Alto facility in 2006, the move appeared in part designed to help boost the mobile-phone giant's position in the U.S. market. While Nokia is the number-one handset maker worldwide, its market share in the U.S. is currently under 10 percent. Despite promises to work hard to improve its U.S. position, Nokia has continued to lose market share in the U.S. over the past few years.