Nokia is the newest entrant in the increasingly crowded mobile application storefront marketplace, confirming the launch of its rumored [1] Ovi Store at a press conference here at Mobile World Congress 2009 in Barcelona. According to the handset giant, Ovi Store will consolidate its existing Download!, Mosh and WidSets efforts, and will tout a customized and contextually relevant user experience determined by factors like personal contacts and physical whereabouts (or as Nokia calls it, "Social Location"). Consumers can activate social discovery features to receive updates and recommendations on content enjoyed within their social networking circles--in addition, Ovi Store will present content and applications tied to the user's present location.
"The central idea is that the media you consume is no longer just about what you bought, but also where, when and who bought it," said Nokia executive vice president Niklas Savander. "Ovi Store is about immediacy and personal relevance. The service will learn your habits and tastes, and anticipate what you want to consume."
Nokia will open Ovi Store in May in nine countries--the store will be pre-integrated on the new N97, also launched Monday and scheduled for commercial release in June, and Nokia forecasts the service will reach an addressable device base topping 300 million by 2012. "As applications have gone mainstream, it's not just about smartphones anymore," Savander said. "We need to address the complete range of devices from high to low."
Beginning in March, Nokia will allow content providers and application developers to upload their products at publish.ovi.com. Content partners including Facebook, MySpace, Fox Mobile Group, EA Mobile and Glu Mobile already have confirmed their participation. Ovi Store will feature both free and premium downloads--in the case of the latter, Nokia will award 70 percent of revenues to developers, and offer credit-card billing or operator billing mechanisms depending on the international market in question.
Related articles:
Nokia [2]'s Comes With Music coming to the U.S.
Nokia [3] opens the door on Ovi, new devices
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/nokia-launching-symbian-app-store-next-week/2009-02-08
[2] http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/nokias-comes-music-coming-u-s/2009-02-13
[3] http://www.fiercedeveloper.com/story/nokia-opens-door-ovi-new-devices/2007-09-04