Nokia unveils Ovi apps store

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 16 Feb 2009 at 10:53

Nokia has taken the covers off its Ovi store, which will offer customers access to thousands of new applications for their smartphones.

The service follows in the mould of Apple's hugely successful iTunes apps store, though Nokia is attempting to differentiate Ovi by allowing it to recommend applications based on geographical location.

Nokia also claims the store will learn your tastes over time and tailor its recommendations accordingly.

The store will be pre-integrated in the N97, due out in June, however the company will also be offering it as a downloadable application from May for over 50 million S40 and S60 handsets.

Content creators will be able to submit their apps for consideration to the Publish.ovi.com site, with Nokia taking 30% of the revenue from those that are sold on its site.

The apps store is set to roll out with content from partners such as Facebook, EA, MySpace and Lonely Planet.

Nokia will be hoping to replicate the success of Apple's iTunes apps store which offers 15,000 applications, and has recorded more than 500 million downloads in its first six months.