14 DAY TRIAL // Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia announced a few days ago that it was set to open its Ovi Store in the United States in May, only that there would be no operator billing coming with the launch, which seems to be another problem for the world's largest handset developer's presence in the US. While eight other countries will see operator billing for the Ovi Store, including Australia, Britain, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Singapore, Spain, US hasn't been added to the list until now.
Users in the country willing to acquire something from the store will have to use a credit card for the payment, but there are no exact details on how Nokia intends to handle these operations, for it won't be too pleasant for customers to type in their credit card number and expiration date every time they purchase something.
Other players in the industry already have payment systems up and running. For example, RIM uses PayPal for the BlackBerry App World, while Google has Google Checkout with the Android Market. At the same time, Apple uses on the App Store the same micropayment-processing system used with the iTunes Store. In addition, companies like RIM and Microsoft also announced plans to include the charges for application downloads on the user's monthly bill issued by the carrier.
For the time being, it seems that Nokia hasn't been able to establish a working billing relationship with its customers in Europe either, and its Music Store has seen little traction in the UK, which means that it should focus on this aspect in the US as well. If Nokia's Ovi Store came with carrier support, its chances on the market would be much higher than if it came without it. Hopefully, the company will soon be able to find the fortunate solution to the problem, for it has great opportunities to make its applications known in the US, as well as in other parts of the world.