Qt-Powered Nokia Store Replaces Ovi Store

Nokia has been killing off the Ovi brand lately, and a new step towards the extinction of this name has been taken, with the launch of their new Nokia Store, which is based on Qt Quick.

The new Qt Quick-based version of the Nokia Store client has been announced for all handsets running under the Symbian platform, including those newly released with Symbian Anna and Symbian Belle on board.

The new software will be pushed to all devices in the form of an upgrade, and will become available in all markets. However, it will not be released for all users at the same time, but will benefit from a phased roll-out.

For those who would like to give it a try before it is officially pushed to their devices, a beta flavor of the Nokia Store QML client is available for download from here.

“This was a great way of creating the application,” said Bill Bonney, senior systems architect, Client UI for Nokia. “With Qt Quick there is no rigid UI framework and you have a lot more freedom to realize the experience that you want.”

Users will benefit from various enhancements when it comes to the new mobile client release, such as faster load times, and quicker response.

Some of the main features it comes with would include:

- Improved user experience and usability
- Improved client start-up time, and improved page-loading times and general UI performance
- Permanently visible navigation elements, and support for the new Belle UI style
- Next-generation payment checkout flow.

With the new application release, users will benefit from faster browsing of applications, as well as from an easier app purchase process on their handsets.

Moreover, the app comes with an advanced and intuitive error handling system, which should deal with any problems that might appear during the app purchase phase.

In addition to announcing the release of the new mobile client, Nokia also announced that the Ovi Store has permanently slot the name, and that it will be known as the Nokia Store.

Some more info on what it has to offer to users can be found in the video embedded below.