Matsushita to Buy Rival Nokia’s Software

Nokia said Japanese rival Matsushita will buy its software for smart phones that send e-mails, pictures and play games, boosting the world’s largest handset maker’s position in software.

The deal is another victory for Nokia as it moves beyond handset manufacture into software design. In May it signed up Germany’s Siemens to buy its mobile software.

Matsushita Communication Industrial Co. (MCI), owner of the Panasonic brand, will use Nokia’s Series 60 Platform software in its multimedia phones.