14 DAY TRIAL // Today, Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia announced that its Ovi Store application portal is currently enjoying a number of more than 3 million downloads per day, showing an increased demand for applications on the company's Symbian-based smartophones. Moreover, the company announced that a wide range of new developers has joined Forum Nokia in the past 12 months, and that 92 app builders enjoy over one million downloads for their solutions in the Ovi Store.
Some of the most popular applications in the Ovi Store include:
- Swype: With one continuous finger or stylus motion across the keyboard, Swype's technology enables users to input words faster and easier.
- NHL GameCenter(TM) Premium: Keep up with your favorite hockey team by listening to live radio, checking stats and scores, or by watching highlights and condensed games.
- WhatsApp Messenger: A smartphone messaging app that uses 3G or WiFi to connect with friends and family. Switch from SMS to WhatsApp to send and receive messages, pictures, audio notes, and video messages at no cost.
Q Torch, a utility app that turns your device into a flashlight, was the top free app in the Ovi Store since the release of Symbian^3-based devices.
As for the top downloaded paid app, that was Angry Birds, the smash hit game, by Rovio Mobile of Finland. Need for Speed Shift HD, the high-performance racing game by EA Mobile, was the third top app globally.
While apps are increasingly popular on the company's devices, the Nokia Qt Software Development Toolkit (SDK) and the Qt SDK are also enjoying more and more downloads, with over 1.5 million of them already registered, the company announced.
Through these solutions, developers can come up with applications that would target a wider range of devices, including the newly released Nokia N8, Nokia C7 and Nokia C6-01, which are already shipping around the world, or the Nokia E7, which should arrive on shelves next month.
The Ot environment can be used for the development of applications for both the Symbain platform, as well as for the new MeeGo operating system.
“The rapid growth on Ovi Store to pass the 1 billion annualized downloads mark demonstrates that Nokia is a competitor in both scale and size when it comes to its services,” said Scott Ellison, Vice President of Mobile and Consumer Connected Platforms at IDC.
“With Nokia's stronger focus on the Qt platform and improved developer ecosystem, Nokia should continue to see its developer numbers increase as developers see profit from new revenue shares, operator billings and the ever-growing user base around the world.”