Nokia announces Ovi Application store

Nokia is taking on smartphone rival Apple with its own version of an application store. On Monday, the world's largest cell phone maker, which has been losing market share at the high end to devices like Apple's iPhone, announced here at the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009 that it will follow Apple and a few other handset makers in launching a virtual storefront where developers can upload applications and consumers can easily download them.

The news of Nokia's Ovi Store is hardly a shock. Several news agencies had reported that the company was expected to announce the store here at MWC. Nokia said at the press conference that the store will be open for business starting in May. Nokia's flagship smartphone, the N97, will be the first Nokia device to have the application store software pre-integrated. The N97, which was announced in December, goes on sale in June. The company added that other Nokia phone users, including those using S40 and S60 phones, will be able to download the application storefront starting in May. Developers, who will get a 70 percent cut of revenue from the store, will be able to start loading applications to the Ovi.com Website starting in March. Several content owners have already started working on applications for the store, including AccuWeather , Facebook, Rough Guides, Lonely Planet, Electronic Arts, Fox Mobile, and MySpace.

Nokia says it will eventually make the application store available to all of its Nokia phones, and it will begin rolling it out globally in the fall.Nokia's announcement follows the big success of Apple's App Store, which provides applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Other smartphone makers have also jumped on the bandwagon with their own application stores. Google launched one for its Android phones and Research In Motion plans to have one up and running for its BlackBerry devices. Microsoft, maker of the Windows Mobile operating system, is also expected to announce its application "bazaar" at Mobile World Congress this week, too.

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