Nokia and Philips have announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas a collaboration aimed at delivering users an enhanced home experience supported by the DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) protocol. The two companies are planning on developing and delivering the technology that would allow users to control music devices via their mobile phones, listen to the music stored on their phones on their home stereo system or move files between their handsets and home devices almost effortlessly.

The offering of the two includes the Philips Streamium wireless audio products, which enable users to stream music either from their mobile phone or from a PC or any DLNA-enabled device so as to be able to enjoy it at home. At the same time, the Nokia handset would be meant to provide control over the Philips wireless audio systems. Moreover, the mobile phone would also be able to interact with music files whether they are stored on the device itself or on the PC.

“Working with Philips, we can simplify the 'connected home' experience,” says Richard French, director, head of New Businesses, Nokia. “When people are shopping for new devices, we want to eliminate the guesswork in buying compatible devices for their home network and help them enjoy hassle-free connectivity.”

“We know consumers are increasingly listening to music on mobile phones. However, when they come home, they prefer listening to their music via their normal stereos. We therefore consider a seamless experience between Nokia multimedia devices and Philips Streamium home audio a vital element to deliver simplicity to our consumers,” said Wiebo Vaartjes, general manager, Audio, Video & Multimedia Applications, at Philips Consumer Lifestyle. “We are therefore proud to announce this collaboration with Nokia, comprising the next step in our commitment to truly deliver and promote the interoperability between our products via the open DLNA standard.”

The Nokia Connected Home comes as a set of Home Media applications and services that have been designed to allow users to wirelessly enjoy their music, videos or photos via their TV sets and stereo devices. If a compatible Nokia Nseries multimedia device, a supported UPnP/DLNA media renderer or server, like a PC, television, home stereo system or a gaming console, and a wireless network solution are present, users will be able to turn this into reality. A wide range of Nseries devices are reported to feature the Nokia Home Media solution today.

Philips Streamium wireless audio devices are meant to enable users to easily stream music at home or at the office. The Streamium lineup includes the wireless Philips music station WAS6050, the Philips Wireless Music Center WACS7500, which comes along with its satellites, and Philips Network Music Players like NP1100, NP2500 and NP2900. The products are able to integrate into existing wireless networks and come with Internet radio and music streaming capabilities.