In-car platform will be centred on DoCoMo's 3G mobile network, offering maps and information Nissan Motor and mobile telecoms giant NTT DoCoMo have said they will team up to develop a system to deliver maps, weather information, news and entertainment to cars.

The companies said on Tuesday they would combine their respective strengths to create an in-car information platform centred on DoCoMo's advanced third-generation (3G) mobile network. 3G's fast transmission speeds offer access to rich Internet content on top of video and music downloads.

The companies said they aimed to launch the service in 2003.

The announcement came after the end of stock market trading, although Nissan and DoCoMo said earlier they would hold a news conference on a joint study of car communications services.

Shares in Nissan, Japan's third-largest automaker, closed down 1.27 percent at 780 yen (£4.10) while DoCoMo shares were unchanged at 1.39 million yen (£7,300). The Nikkei average slipped 2.44 percent.

Tuesday February 19, 3:25 AM EST

(Updates with announcement, details)

TOKYO, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co Ltd (7201) and mobile telecoms giant NTT DoCoMo Inc (9437) said on Tuesday they would team up to develop a system to deliver maps, weather information, news and entertainment to cars.

The companies said they would combine their respective strengths to create an in-car information platform centred on DoCoMo's advanced third-generation (3G) mobile network.

3G's fast transmission speeds offer access to rich Internet content on top of video and music downloads.

The companies said they aimed to launch the service in 2003.

The announcement came after the end of stock market trading, although Nissan and DoCoMo said earlier they would hold a news conference on a joint study of car communications services.

Shares in Nissan, Japan's third-largest automaker, closed down 1.27 percent at 780 yen while DoCoMo shares were unchanged at 1.39 million yen. The Nikkei average slipped 2.44 percent.