Intel, Nokia and Symbian intend to collaborate on a reference design platform based on Intel's Hermon/Xscale processors, for release some time in 2005.

"We, along with Nokia and Intel, will invest in a reference platform for 3G handsets. This will reduce the time it takes licensees to get a handset to market, and it will reduce their development costs," said Symbian CEO, David Levin, in a speech at the Symbian Expo in London on Tuesday.

Both Intel and Levin declined to commit to any timetable for the reference design, or for when the actual product may hit the market.

Analysts estimate that it would take at least a year for the reference design project to be completed.

Nokia, which has a long-standing relationship with Texas Instruments (TI), and currently uses TI chips in its Series 60 handsets, did not send representatives to the Symbian Expo.

Nokia said later that it has no immediate intention to replace TI chips with those from Intel, though it did not dismiss the idea of such a move in the future.

"We have not said that we are replacing TI chips in our products with Intel," says Hannu Markus, Nokia's communications manager on Thursday.

"It was decided that Intel is going to be developing chips for the Symbian OS and the Series 60 UI (user interface), which is something we license out to other companies. It does open the door for the future use of Intel, but it is just one option, not just for us, but for all licensees of Series 60 UI."

Markus declines to say when products using the Intel reference design may become commercially available, saying Nokia does not speculate on upcoming products. For its part, TI, based in Dallas, shrugged off the importance to the alliance.

"The announcement does not change anything for us," says Bryce Johnstone, manager for TI's worldwide OMAP Developer Network. "There is no difference in our relationship with Nokia."

Intel, which has yet to get its chips into any handsets, has attempted to challenge TI's dominance in the cell phone market, and sees the midrange feature phone market that Symbian is now targeting as its chance to make some headway with handset makers.

"The involvement in the reference design is good from the point of view of Intel, in that it has its foot in the door, but TI still has an extremely strong position within Nokia," says Alan Brown, principal analyst in Gartner's emerging technologies and semiconductors group. "TI's crown is slipping, but it is not on the floor."

In announcing development plans with Intel, Nokia could also be trying to leverage its position with TI.

"I think there is quite a bit of politics being played, I am sure," Brown says. However, he adds that any chance of Intel getting its product into Nokia handsets would be a long-term prospect.