Nokia and T-Mobile Announce Integrated Marketplace

The Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia and the mobile network operator T-Mobile announced a partnership for promoting their offerings for widgets, applications and other content so that customers could have easy access to a vast range of Internet services. The two companies announced that users would be able to search for and download widgets from both the T-Mobile widget gallery and Nokia's Ovi Store through T-Mobile's web'n'walk widget platform. At the same time, the two stated that the integrated marketplace would be made available for the mass market Nokia Series 40 platform-based phones starting with the second half of 2009.

The devices selling best in Europe, the Series 40-based feature phones will come with support for T-Mobile's web'n'walk widget platform. Both offerings will co-exist thanks to a Java-based widget client. Through this partnership, the new web'n'walk widget platform will be introduced to the mass market, also opening the door to all the application services available from Nokia's Ovi Store and T-Mobile's widget gallery.

"T-Mobile and Nokia share a joint vision of offering an unparalleled mobile Internet experience to its customers. The co-existence of our widget gallery with Nokia's Ovi Store ensures customers have access to an extensive range of interesting and relevant Internet services that they can customize according to their personal preferences," said Rainer Deutschmann, Senior Vice President, Mobile Internet at T-Mobile International.

According to Urpo Karjalainen, Senior Vice President, Operator Channels, Nokia, the Nokia Series 40 devices are a great option for delivering Ovi Store experience, while also allowing users to enjoy relevant content they like as soon as the Store is available. At the same time, the partnership with T-Mobile will allow the company to deliver a compelling mobile Internet experience for mass market, stated Karjalainen.

T-Mobile also announced the next release of its web'n'walk that includes the new widget platform meant to offer users new means to get closer to the Internet. The new platform will launch in spring, and consumers will then be provided with fast access to Internet services via widgets and applications straight from their idle screen.

Nokia's Ovi Store is aiming at delivering relevant, targeted media to consumers via social connections and physical location information. The Ovi Store will become available for consumers at the beginning of May, while the integrated marketplace with T-Mobile will be launched in the second half of this year.