World’s largest handset maker Nokia opened its Ovi online software and content store, hoping to follow the success of Apple’s App Store. Ovi Store is an internet service where nokia mobile phone users can shop for content and third-party applications. The store is accessible by more than 50 Nokia (Symbian) devices including upcoming N97 and estimated 50 million Nokia device owners.
The Ovi store will offer 20,000 titles including both free and paid applications, games, videos, podcasts, wallpapers, ring tones, location-based services and personalized content. This store will utilise social networking and location-based info to hint at relevant mobile content.
Nokia Ovi Store Video Demo
The store is now available in English, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish, and it can be accessed at store.ovi.com through a Nokia browser. This store site displays a list of Nokia phones and allows users to sort content depending on which phone they use. Plus, there’s also a way to sort between free and paid apps.
On clicking on an application, users will arrive on a page specific for that app where they can read much info about it. The info includes the size of the application, the ability to report issues, user reviews and also how to determine if your phone is compatible with the application.
Nokia said clients in eight countries (Australia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Singapore, Spain and the United Kingdom) can pay for purchases through their phone bills, and AT&T was planning to make the store available in the United States later this year. Globally, credit-card billing is available through the mobile application and the mobile website. Additional countries, languages, devices and features will be added throughout the year.
Content providers and application developers can able to create and publish their own content through Ovi Store by visiting publish.ovi.com. Nokia’s mobile application store offers 70/30 revenue split to developers.