Nokia to open an app store filled with wonders

FINNISH FONE MAKER Nokia is set to take on the Iphoney and Google's robot by launching its very own application store filled with 20,000 items, which seems like a great many if its true.

Forbes recently spoke to some Nokia executives and was informed the firm will be taking a run at the application store model, something which has proven successful for Apple's Itunes app store and Google's Android market place.

Dates are yet to be set in stone, but the buzz is that Nokia's launch will be one of the largest yet in terms of starter offerings, especially compared to app stores from lesser companies not so heavily laden with niceties.

Google's robot stall, for instance, trundled slowly out the door with just 50 apps onboard, whilst the fruit logo company had a bounty of just 500 wonderments when its doors were flung open to the public.

Although the term 'items' seems vague, in all likelihood Nokia's app store will be populated with everything from full applications to smaller widgets to make a Symbian powered phone purr.

The Ovi Store, as it has been dubbed, will most likely arrive with the launch of a new Nokia phone.

Nokia's next big handset is the Nokia N97, tipped to be the next big thing in smartphone hybrid consumer mobiles with a massive full screen and a Qwerty keyboard.

The news came in a week that saw Nokia launch yet another E-series business mobile, the E52. A natural successor to its predecessor the E51, it also looks surprisingly similar to the E71, one of the firm's better smartphone's to date.

Let's hope the Nokia Ovi store makes light work of the installation of applications, rather than the trauma everyone had with Symbian software of yesteryear. µ

L'INQ
Forbes