Scalado's Lund site will become a key site for Nokia's imaging software for smartphones, in addition to Nokia's existing locations in Espoo and Tampere, Finland. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close during the third quarter of 2012. The terms of the transaction are confidential.
Jo Harlow, executive vice president, Smart Devices at Nokia, said:
"Nokia has been working with Scalado for more than ten years and they've contributed to many of our leading imaging applications. This transaction would enable us to combine our leadership in camera devices with their expertise in imaging, helping people move beyond taking pictures to capturing moments and emotions and then reliving them in many different ways."
Håkan Persson, chief executive officer of Scalado AB, said:
"This is a great opportunity for many of our people to show their leadership in imaging and to continue to build its future. Doing this as part of Nokia, already a leader in mobile imaging, will reinforce the strength of the technologies and competences developed at Scalado. We are very excited about this opportunity, which is a natural next step in our longstanding relationship with Nokia."
Scalado's software is used in many other manufacturer's smartphones, both in terms of consumer application and low level imaging algorithms. In 2010 Scalado technology was embedded in more than 930 million devices. While existing licensing agreements will stay in place and Scalado AB will remain in existence any future developments are likely to be exclusive to Nokia. It will also give Nokia an unassailable position in smartphone imaging related intellectual property.
Scalado AB will continue to exist. All present customer agreements and obligations will remain with Scalado AB. The main task of Scalado AB will be to continue to work with our customers honoring our delivery and support obligations and fulfill any and all obligations in relation to its existing customers.
Scalado's product portfolio is based around enhancing the capturing, editing and viewing of photos. Key technologies includes Scalado RAJpeg (a JPEG codec and metadata store that reduces memory and CPU requirements and allows much faster manipulation of an image), Scalado SpeedTags (encodes RAJpeg information on creation of image) and Scalado SpeedView (increases speed of imaging decoding by storing SpeedView Metadata Objects that describe the image).
These technologies form the core enablers of a number of product experiences including:
- Scalado CAPS - product based on RAJpeg and already included in most Symbian phones
- Scalado PhotoFlow - fast image viewing see this Symbian app
- Scalado Rewind - capture the best portrait photo possible by selecting the best facial expression for each individual from a series of photos
- Scalado TimeWarp - a more general application of Scalado Rewind, but for fast moving objects
- Scalado Remove - remove extraneous people from photos
- Scalado Album - fast viewing of images
These technologies and consumer experiences are very likely to be included in future devices across the Nokia product portfolio. In most cases they will be directly integrated into the Camera and Gallery apps.