Electronics giant Motorola has announced the opening of new research centres in China and Korea.

The two facilities will look into ways of expanding the reach of the internet, albeit in different directions.

Motorola officially opened its Things-to-Things Research Centre in Seoul yesterday, and earlier this week began operations at its new Broadband Wireless China Research Centre in Beijing. 

"Motorola is researching 'things-to-things' solutions that will connect the physical world to the internet and enable billions of appliances, electronic goods, highways and more to collaborate and simplify our lives," said Motorola corporate vice president Iwona Turlik at the opening of the Seoul research centre.

The company will invest $40m in the centre over the next four years, according to local media reports.

Included in the initial research programme will be work on universal sensor networks based on low-cost ZigBee wireless networking technology. 

This work will be carried out in cooperation with the government-sponsored Korean Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI). 

"This partnership promises revolutionary advances in extending the connectivity of the internet into the physical world," said Jong-suk Chae of the ETRI in a statement.

Motorola's new Beijing research centre will focus its efforts on next-generation low-cost mobile broadband technologies to bring the internet to a new generation of mobile devices.

"As a promising technology, wireless broadband is an ideal bridge between internet and telecoms networks," said Ruey Bin Kao, president of Motorola China. "It will open up technology and business opportunities for Motorola and other companies."

Greg Brown, president of Motorola's networks and enterprise division, added: "The opening of the centre is a further testament to Motorola's strategy to develop China as a production and R&D base.

"Today Motorola has nearly 3,000 engineers working in 18 R&D centres in China, the largest R&D presence any global company has established in the country."

Motorola did not disclose the size of its investment in the China research facility.