Nokia to strengthen social networking with cellity acquisition

"We can accelerate our service development in some of our core areas"

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24 July 2009 15:39 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Despite of thousands of staff layoffs, Nokia has announced it is to acquire a German software company, take on 14 employees to its "services" division, and close the current business down.

An agreement will see Nokia buying Hamburg-based "cellity" for an undisclosed amount. cellity currently offers a solution to collect and securely store users' contacts in one place, described as an easy way to connect people on the mobile and the Web.

Nokia says it will "acquire the cellity team to strengthen its competencies in the area of social networking. cellity's current service will not transfer to Nokia and the service will be discontinued".

"cellity has a very talented and innovative team, which we are very happy to have on board at Nokia. With this acquisition, we can accelerate our service development in some of our core areas", said Christof Hellmis, vice president, services, Nokia.

Nokia has previously dabbled in the area of social networking with its MOSH service, now ramped down to make way for its Ovi Store offerings.