14 DAY TRIAL // Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia announced today at the Mobile World Congress the launch of the Ovi Store, a content and application store that is the first in the world to allow personalization of the content according to a user's social connections and physical location. At the same time, the company also announced the launch of the Nokia E75 and Nokia E55, meant to ease the user's access to email directly from the handsets. In addition, the new Nokia 6710 Navigator, and the Nokia 6720 classic have also been unveiled, mid-range phones able to provide top-of-the-range experiences.
“These solutions will make it easier for people to find and prioritize the things that really matter to them in their personal and professional lives, through cool new applications, improved mobile navigation and one-touch email access,” said Nokia President and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo. “In the current economic climate everyone is taking a closer look at the costs and benefits of technology. The devices and services announced today reflect Nokia's approach to delivering solutions that have a big impact at an affordable price, without the need to compromise or cut corners.”
“We believe that with our global scale and our drive to personalize the Internet through services like 'Social Location,' we are well-positioned to set new benchmarks in innovation and enhanced Internet services that will benefit everyone,” Kallasvuo also added.
The Ovi Store will be commercially available in May, offering users targeted content according to several criteria, or what Nokia calls 'Social Location'. Developers will have a dynamic and potentially lucrative opportunity to provide their applications to Nokia's global consumer base. Content providers will be able to add their apps to the store via a specialized channel, which will become available on February 16. Nokia aims at turning the Internet into a deeply personalized experience. The company expects the Ovi Store to include exciting new content by summertime, based on the fact that 3.5 million developers are included in its Forum Nokia community.
The new Nokia E75 is able to deliver full desktop email functionality via its slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a three-step email setup. At the same time, this is the first handset to include Nokia Messaging, a service that supports email accounts from Yahoo, Gmail and Hotmail. At the same time, users can also experience direct access to over 90 percent of corporate inboxes through the Mail for Exchange and IBM Lotus Notes Traveler. The Nokia E55 is also able to turn messaging into a simple action with its new compact QWERTY keyboard and a standby time of about a month.
The outdoor navigation is brought to a new level by the Nokia 6710 Navigator, which includes all the features of a standalone GPS device, while also including all the advantages of a converged mobile device. The new handset can offer real-time 'drive and walk' navigation, full regional maps, and hardware elements like a dedicated navigator key and touch area for zooming, as well as a large display. The Nokia 6720 classic can offer immersive voice experience through the noise cancellation features it includes.
