Nokia announced it will collaborate with social networking giant Facebook to introduce lifecasting with Ovi, enabling users to publish their location and status updates directly to their Facebook account from the homescreen of their mobile device. According to Nokia, lifecasting with Ovi also promises to yield new mobile communication patterns, including sending messages or status updates or navigating to a friend or a place--all concepts that dovetail with the handset maker's Ovi Store [1] and its "Social Location" approach, which touts a customized and contextually relevant user experience determined by factors like personal contacts and physical whereabouts.
Lifecasting with Ovi will debut on the new Nokia N97 mini, which features a tilting 3.2-inch touchscreen display, qwerty keyboard and fully customizable homescreen. The lifecasting app also will be available via the Nokia N97--a free software update scheduled for release in October will include new homescreen widgets and additional usability improvements including flick scrolling.
Rumors of a Nokia/Facebook integration deal date back [2] to February 2009--at that time, The Wall Street Journal reported the two companies had been in discussions for months, weighing the merits of several different collaboration models. As of July 2009, Facebook boasts more than 200 million active users and over 30 million mobile users.
As for the Ovi Store, Nokia president and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said the app marketplace is "building momentum." Speaking at the annual Nokia World event in Stuttgart, Germany, Kallasvuo said the Ovi Store is now accessible from 100 Nokia devices, with 27 operators providing integrated billing in eight countries and five languages. In addition, developers from 65 countries have submitted products to Ovi Store, which Kallasvuo cited as "more proof of [its] global scope." He also noted that more than 1 million Mail on Ovi [3] accounts were activated in the first six months following the mobile email service's Dec. 2008 launch.
For more on lifecasting with Ovi:
- read this release [4]
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/nokias-ovi-store-finally-opens-business/2009-05-26
[2] http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/facebook-mobile-social-networking-talks-nokia/2009-02-12
[3] http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/nokias-mail-ovi-goes-live/2008-12-22
[4] http://www.fiercewireless.com/press-releases/nokia-seizes-social-internet-and-amplifies-music-experience-0