Nokia OVI Store Demonstrated at Web 2.0 Expo

We talked to Nokia about their upcoming OVI Store at Web 2.0 Expo. Nokia told us that it should launch in “early May”. It will be available as a download (a few hundred KBs) for S40 and S60 phones, but first, it will come integrated with the Nokia N97 (and then with all S40/S60 phones). The OVI store represents the combination of Nokia’s previous efforts like widsets, downloads and so on…

There is a social bias that’s not present in other stores: your (ovi) friends know what apps you have been downloading and the store will feature different apps, according to your network’s interest – but also according to your geographical location. You can indeed access everything from anywhere, but U.S users, will U.S-centric services, for example.

Nokia has made sure that OVI store is carrier-friendly. Each carrier can tailor a design and feature certain apps (making this a “deals” friendly distribution platform). For users, a unified billing system might reassure those who don’t want to provide their credit card info, or deal with micro-transactions in their statements.

Eliane Fiolet
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: Web 2.0