Nokia and graphics chip maker ATI have announced they are partnering to provide enhanced mobile multimedia experiences to Nokia customers. Top of the new experiences the two companies have planned include mobile 3D gaming, mobile TV and music playback. While Nokia won’t be bringing back the ill-fated N-Gage, they have said that their 2007 models will focus heavily on 3D gaming, aiming to provide N-Gage like technology in their standard range of phones.

Nokia and ATI partner for mobile 3D gaming

From the press release:

“Working with ATI underscores the commitment that Nokia has in providing unparalleled mobile multimedia experiences to consumers,” said Ilkka Raiskinen, Senior Vice President, Multimedia Experiences, Nokia. “With the mobile device now at the center of people’s lives, we want people to have access to fantastic mobile content when and where they want. We are announcing our collaboration with ATI now, so that developers have the next 12 to 18 months to be innovative and create world class mobile multimedia experiences.”

With mobile devices becoming ever more powerful and complex, ATI and Nokia are working to drive the complexity out of multimedia development by promoting open standards and providing integrated hardware, software and tools. In this way, developers need only create content once for consumers to enjoy on a range of devices. Specifically, ATI aims to provide a dedicated tools chain and software development kit (SDK) for developers in the fall of 2006. ATI and Nokia will also hold a series of joint workshops in the second half of this year to showcase the environment to key developers.

“Our role is to enable all content, from ultra-high quality music playback to 3D gaming, and we’ll jointly guide and support the members of the content development community as they focus on creating amazing user experiences,” said Paul Dal Santo, Vice President and GM, Handheld Products, ATI. “With a shared vision of how multimedia impacts the mobile market, Nokia and ATI are providing much needed direction and a framework to move the whole industry forward.”