Nokia as part of their smart home initiative has partnered with Royal Philips Electronics to bring DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance ) experience to a new level , DLNA is already available in a number of Nokia phones including N95-8gb and N96 , and N95-8gb already has Home Media Solution installed and the provided CD already has software for PC streaming music from mobile phone to PC , although I never got the hang of it and was never able to use it .

The Philips Streamium wireless audio products will let consumers play wireless music from their mobile phones on the player . However as per CNET , although the pioneer in the wireless streaming , the Streamium line never clicked with consumers while offerings by others took off .

However in CES 2009 Philips has introduced two new systems the NP 2500 and the NP2900 , both capable of streaming non-DRM audio files from networked Windows and Mac PCs, as well as the ability to stream Rhapsody content (subscription required) and thousands of internet radio stations (free) over a wireless home network. Beside the players also have builtin color screens for menu navigation and album art while NP2900 also features builtin stereo speakers diminishing the need to have external stereo or Amplifier .

“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.”

What I think about the partnership ?

Call me a Pessimist but both Nokia and Philips are using each other to their Symbiotic reasons , Philips need a partner to push up it’s Streamium line and who else but Nokia with their millions of DLNA ready phone could push the sales while Nokia could be using Philips as a test subject for their upcoming Smart Home Music solutions , using Philips to launch the device for Nokia to test their software etc while Nokia readies their Home Music System .

Just my two pence

Farhan