Comparing the Nokia’s Ovi store to the Apple’s AppStore would be like walking into an all Veg. restaurant and ordering a Steak. I know that everyone wants a comparison for some reason, but if you’re an Apple user you’ll be happiest with what you’ve got and might refuse to consider change, so I’ve been told by friends and colleagues who happen to be Apple users. And the same thing goes for Nokia Users, although they have the option of changing handsets.
But the Ovi and App Stores are designed to be used with very different handsets and so have very different applications etc. to offer the individual mobile user. It’s inevitable that each manufacturer is going to develop and launch its own online application store because that would be the best way to reach out and offer Value Added Services to existing and new customers. BlackBerry only recently launched their App World online store as well. But here’s a quick view of Nokia’s Ovi Store for new users. Now please understand we are not talking about having an Ovi account for data back up and syncing or using the maps etc. but the virtual supermarket of sorts for your mobile phone and how easily it makes shopping for you handset.
The online store via PC looks crisp and easy to navigate. Setting yourself up with an account doesn’t take a Rocket Scientist to figure out so no worries there. Register yourself and select your phone type. You’ll need to enter your mobile number as the only way you’ll be able to download anything off the site is to receive an SMS and then download via the link provided. So you might want to consider switching to an unlimited full GPRS plan or you’ll end up paying something for everything you download even if it is free. What they could have had here is a simple download to PC option like all the other sites for Nokia handsets. It won’t cost you anything and you can simply transfer and install on the handset via the PC suite or just copy paste it onto the handset’s drive and run it from there. While there seems to be plenty of stuff available on the Ovi Store, I did find quite a few popular items like the Nimbuzz application that were for some reason removed or ‘No longer available.’
In case you’re wondering about the Nokia Download Section/Catalogs and MOSH that has been around in handsets for over a year, they are going to be integrated into the Ovi Store. It’s so much easier to download and install apps, games etc. via those servers though rather than the elongated select item-wait for an SMS-click on the embedded link-download-then install. How annoying is to receive an SMS to download something as small as wallpaper? Seriously! The Catalogs will slowly be downsized and the Download section will soon lead directly to the Ovi Store. An Ovi Store client will also be out soon.
Payment is a rather vague scenario as of now. Although the Indian billing segment is not yet in place, you can still buy products off the site. We just don’t yet know how. I presumed it would be via a credit card, but it didn’t ask me for one. I received an SMS nevertheless that stated – Shayne Rana has shared this (the name of the product) with you, followed by a link. Why would it tell me I’m sharing it with myself firstly, and when does the bill come in? The link led me to the Store with the item for purchase, pricing etc. and a Buy option. Since everything’s in Euros, I wasn’t sure I wanted to take this further in case it doesn’t ask for my card and goes right onto my bill or something.
The process is unnecessarily long. While I do believe that Ovi is good service, the store has a long way to go. There are plenty of goodies already available for download, but I wasn’t too thrilled with the overall content so I intend to keep a close watch on the kind of stuff that becomes available over the next couple of months. Although you may not have an icon for Ovi on your handset just yet, if you’re a current user you can direct your mobile web browser to store.ovi.mobi and make your selections there. You’re still going to have to go through the whole procedure of SMS links etc. till they hopefully bring us a direct download option. In the long run, I believe people would still prefer to download from other sites rather than here.
