mocoNews.net - @ MWC: Nokia Unveils Ovi Store; "It Knows You And Adds The Things You Like"

We knew that Mobile World Congress would have a lot of news about application stores, and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) at least upheld its end of the bargain by unveiling its Ovi Store today, which goes much further than any application store on the market. In addition to selling mobile applications, the store will have access to other content, including videos, and will have the capabilities of providing information based on a person's location and their past consumer behavior. In a demonstration, the store offered up information on the weather and Lonely Planet guides since we were in Barcelona. Niklas Savander, Nokia EVP: "This quest for immediate relevancy is a great business opportunity?The old generation of services is no longer cutting it. They are too complicated and too hard to find and not relevant, and to be honest, they are boring."

Nokia also unveiled a couple of devices. More to come on them?.

On Reach: The Ovi store will be able to reach the mass market. "You must address the range of devices from high to low, this is not necessarily about the 2 percent of the population that are already using. This is about the 98 percent that have still not started using. It will work on 50 million devices in nine countries. Starting in May, it will be available as a download to series 60 devices, and then in June, it will start to be pre-integrated.

How it works: This store is different, it's not just a place to find applications. It's familiar. It knows you and adds the things you like. It shows what your friends have bought and changes the inventory based on where you are. Savander: "It's a smart store?.What is it that Ovi has that other stores don't? The media you consume is about where, when and who you are. It will bring a profound level of immediacy and relevancy to the service. This also means that over time, it will start to learn your habits and taste and anticipate."

On Content: Savander: "It's about applications, but it's so much more than applications. We'll offer videos, productivity tools, you can search, sort, you can see the most popular. It's a journey, and it's comprehensive and it's easy." Today, publishers can start uploading their content to Publish.ovi.com. Content providers can choose to monetize or give it away for free. They'll have an option of charging by credit card or using the carrier's billing network, depending on the country (the first for an app store). 70 percent of the revenues will go to the developer. If the carrier is used, the developer will get 70 percent after a few is paid to the carrier. Savander: "For mobile operators and developers and content providers, this is a great business. We are today inviting content companeis and developers to join our network." Content on board: Some of the biggest names have already signed up, including Qik, Rough Guides, MySpace, Lonely Planet, Fox Mobile group, Facebook, Electronic Arts (NSDQ: ERTS) and Shazam. "We'll add more before May."