Many mobile manufacturers are eager to hop onto the application store bandwagon having seen the phenomenal success that Apple has enjoyed with the iPhone App Store – and now it looks like Nokia is set to make a major splash in the market.
With Apple having enjoyed remarkable success with the App Store for its iPhone and iPod Touch ranges it wasn't long before other companies decided they wanted a piece of the action: Microsoft was quick to recruit for a Windows Mobile-oriented online software store, and was closely followed with Google's announcement that it would support paid-for applications on its own Android Market site.
Now it's the turn of Finnish mobile giant Nokia. While the company has already enjoyed a modicum of success with a range of pay-to-own services – including the over-the-air purchase options included in the Nokia Maps satellite navigation software and its N-Gage gaming service – this marks the first time the company has jumped into a centralised software purchasing system.
According to an article over on Forbes, the company's Ovi Store – named for the Finnish word for “door” – is going to be a big entry into the market: with Nokia's vice president of services Niklas Savander claiming that it will launch with a 20,000 strong catalogue it would become the second-biggest mobile store currently available.
There's already a slight hitch with Savander's figures, however: that 20,000 item figure sure sounds good, but it turns out that Nokia has been diluting things down a bit by offering both applications and “lots of entertainment and media files.” By including video and audio content in the catalogue, Nokia is able to make the store seem significantly larger.
Even taking this into account, it's still a major offering on Nokia's part. Due to ship with the launch of the N97 later this year – with a separate Ovi Store download available for older handsets – Apple could finally have some competition in the mobile application marketplace.
Glad to see Nokia is trying to catch up with the might of the iPhone, or have you been burned too many times in the past with the company's previous efforts in this sector? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
With Apple having enjoyed remarkable success with the App Store for its iPhone and iPod Touch ranges it wasn't long before other companies decided they wanted a piece of the action: Microsoft was quick to recruit for a Windows Mobile-oriented online software store, and was closely followed with Google's announcement that it would support paid-for applications on its own Android Market site.
Now it's the turn of Finnish mobile giant Nokia. While the company has already enjoyed a modicum of success with a range of pay-to-own services – including the over-the-air purchase options included in the Nokia Maps satellite navigation software and its N-Gage gaming service – this marks the first time the company has jumped into a centralised software purchasing system.
According to an article over on Forbes, the company's Ovi Store – named for the Finnish word for “door” – is going to be a big entry into the market: with Nokia's vice president of services Niklas Savander claiming that it will launch with a 20,000 strong catalogue it would become the second-biggest mobile store currently available.
There's already a slight hitch with Savander's figures, however: that 20,000 item figure sure sounds good, but it turns out that Nokia has been diluting things down a bit by offering both applications and “lots of entertainment and media files.” By including video and audio content in the catalogue, Nokia is able to make the store seem significantly larger.
Even taking this into account, it's still a major offering on Nokia's part. Due to ship with the launch of the N97 later this year – with a separate Ovi Store download available for older handsets – Apple could finally have some competition in the mobile application marketplace.
Glad to see Nokia is trying to catch up with the might of the iPhone, or have you been burned too many times in the past with the company's previous efforts in this sector? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
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