Nokia and Intel aren't content to simply work on the MeeGo operating system together as they seem to be partaking in a new venture. Nokia is joining forces with chip supremos Intel in a joint research venture looking at 3D smartphone technology.

The two companies are collaborating on a new research unit at the Center for Internet Excellence at the University of Oulu, Finland. Details of the research are sparse, but there are suggestions that the two companies are looking at new types of 3D interface technolgy for future generations of smartphones, as well as at ways of representing social networking data.

Intel Labs director Martin Curley said, "There's an opportunity for this joint innovation center to shape this, in terms of the synthesis of virtual and physical world and location-based services." We are not 100% sure what that means, but it sounds like the sort of thing that someone ought to be doing.

The new research centre marks a continuation of Intel and Nokia's relationship. The two companies have most recently been working together on the Meego mobile operating system, set to debut in the upcoming Nokia N9.

Via: PCR Online