MWC 09: Ovi Store is Nokia's new App Store

[Nikos Kartalis]

It's been a couple of weeks now that we hearing rumors for Nokia launching a redesign App Store that will replace their current Download! service, placed in almost all Nokia devices that are currently available.

Today at Mobile World Congress 2009 those rumors became reality as Nokia unveiled the Ovi Store. Ovi Store is Nokia's new App store and along with applications Ovi Store will offer media as well. According to Nokia their App Store is the smartest available as it can recommend you applications and media based on your social connection and location.

The Ovi Store will consolidate the best experiences from the current content Nokia services of Download!, MOSH and WidSets.

"The Ovi Store will enable our devices to uniquely surface relevant content for consumers based on the people who matter to them and the particular places they happen to be, bringing a new generation of media services to the fingertips of millions of people around the world," said Tero Ojanperä, Executive Vice President, Nokia Services. "By leveraging our strengths as a company and the assets of our partners, the Ovi Store is a 'smart store' that will change the way our consumers discover and consume content on their mobile devices, ultimately making the experience easier, more fun and most importantly, more relevant."

Publishers will be able to publish their content directly from publish.ovi.com while Nokia is offering a very competitive split of 30-70 share to developers.

The service is expected to be available starting this May when millions of current S60 and S40 devices will be able to replace their current Download! application with the new Ovi Store. The Nokia N97 will be the first device with Ovi Store pre-installed when it will be available in June.