Nokia is rolling out its OVI store an official announcement can be expected anytime! An app platform gives a unique edge to any smartphone, who better than Apple knows it with the Appp Store seeing 1bln app downloads and the iPhone despite some drawbacks manages to be so popular.
While the iTunes AppStore celebrates its first anniversary, its competitors like the Nokia Ovi Store are just launching. While we cannot term OVI as an App Store competitor directly, as both of these market places serve different platforms, it surely counters a great advantage that Apple/iPhone/iPod Touch had.
It is expected that 50 million Nokia S40 and S60 series phones would be able to use the Ovi store to download softwares. For newer Nokia models like the 5800 & upcoming N97 this would be a feature to compete with the iPhone 3G and the upcoming iPhone 3.0 (pro?), for the older models this is a valued addition.
Compatible Nokia models will need to wait for the Ovi Store to appear on their download section, all new releases from Nokia (starting with the N97) would see the Ovi Store pre-installed.
2009 will see many more app platforms coming up and its going to be a tedious task for developers to keep up with all of them. For the consumers, its surely a winning situation.
Nokia’s Ovi Store in pictures: