As an effort to boost business in Japan, Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) agreed to acquire Panasonic Corporation (ADR) (OTCMKTS:PCRFY) (TYO:6752)’s telecom network business. The Japanese market is key for Nokia. This new deal covers Panasonic’s wireless base station for mobile phones.
Nokia’s latest acquistion
The actual value of the deal has yet to be disclosed. It is predicted the deal will officially close in early 2015. This deal follows a small list of acquisitions after Microsoft purchased Nokia early this year.
Ashish Chowdhary (executive vice president for Asia, Middle East, and Africa for Nokia Networks) explained the acquisition will help Nokia with wireless network business as well as solidify its mobile broadband portfolio. This all will likely help the company win over the crucial market in Japan
Nokia’s Z Launch gets update
Nokia is also taking on a new avenue with Android. The Finnish tech company introduced Z Launcher app in June as pre-beta for a limited number of users. Nokia quickly filled up those spots. Z Launcher is set to get the second update but it’s only available to those who already own the app.
The Z Launcher app is essentially an Android launcher that keeps the most commonly used apps and contacts in one central location on the front of the screen. After BGR first covered the launch of the app, Nokia was inundated with requests from Android users who wanted to test it out. That was when Nokia opened up the pre-beta program. The pre-beta program took in more people than the company initially planned.
In a recent blog post, Nokia also confirmed that those who didn’t get to try the Z Launch pre-beta in June can sign up for access now. In a separate blog post, the company also mentioned the Z Launch will include new functionalities that improve user experience.
