Nokia Invests In Morpho Imaging Processing

Nokia Growth Partners, the venture capital department of the Finnish behemoth, has invested in Morpho, Inc., to the tune of 165 million Japanese Yen (~US$1.5 million). Morpho specializes in image processing software for mobile gadgets. PhotoSolid and MovieSolid, both from Morpho and designed to help with image and video stabilization, have grown to be well-respected in the industry. Morpho also offers embedded solutions for motion tracking, panoramic imaging, and backlight compensation.

With Nokia’s Nseries handsets on the frontline of cameraphones and the Nokia N82 sporting a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, Carl Zeiss optics, and Xenon flash, the ability to efficiently process the image with enhanced features is going to be key. Samsung’s G810, which was announced at the Mobile World Congress 2008 and sports Nokia’s S60v3 Feature Pack 1 OS, like the N82, already has an image stabilization feature.

I’ll be anxious to see how Morpho progresses, and if we see more Nokia interest in imaging-related companies.