Good news for everybody who doesn't own a iPhone (including myself) but do have a Nokia phone. Today, Nokia unveiled their "App Store" (dubbed "Ovi Store") as an attempt to compete with the very popular Apple App Store. Nokia owners can get access to a range of content including applications, games, videos, widgets, podcasts, location-based applications and personalized content. This would enable you to get more out of your phone than just calling and text messaging. Just browse the store on your mobile and download your favorite content to view when you are on the road, chat using an IM client on your mobile or check our new profiles on Facebook... isn't that easy?
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The cool thing about the Ovi Store that it includes some "community" features. A so called ’social discovery’ feature sees the content used by your peers. Hopefully, this enables you to find cool stuff in the huge amount of available applications. You will also be able to indentify tailored content based on your current location.
Developers and publishers can start creating apps today, so enough content is available for the May launch. No word on the costs of the applications yet (yes, everything comes at a cost), but I assume it won't be far from the Apple Store.
Mobile Application Stores getting popular
Over 500 million application have been downloaded last months in the competing Apple Store, making it a huge (unforeseen) success. Several people have become millionaires selling apps to the store, so no wonder other parties would like to jump into this space. Blackberry maker RIM also said they would launch its own store early this year, hopefully not too late for the party.
