Top mobile phone maker Nokia and chip maker Intel said on Tuesday their software joint venture had got off to a solid start.

"Take-up is really positive," Mika Setala, director of industry alliances at Nokia, told journalists.

"The MeeGo community is active, vibrant," said Martin Curley, head of Intel Labs Europe.

In February the two firms unveiled plan to create MeeGo, merging Nokia`s Linux Maemo software platform with Intel`s Moblin, which is also based on Linux open-source software.

Nokia hopes MeeGo will help it in the battle against Apple`s iPhone and Google`s Android at the top end of the cellphone market. Last year Nokia and Intel unveiled a wide cooperation agreement, also mentioning plans to create joint hardware.

"We are still exploring possibilities for joint hardware, but there is nothing to announce," said Nokia`s Setala.

BDST: 1535 HRS, 24 August 2010