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First impressions of Nokia's Ovi Store

Knocking on Nokia’s door

First impressions of Nokia's Ovi Store
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App stores aren’t just a fad any more: they’re a necessity. It’s a very recent development in the mobile world, but it’s a fact now that if a retailer, manufacturer or any company wants to maintain its position in the mobile industry it needs some kind of online, on-device digital distribution system.

Come to think of it, this doesn’t just apply to the mobile market. Any kind of multimedia device - even the DS, PSP, Xbox 360 and George Foreman Lean Mean Grilling Machine needs an online app store now.

Nokia is now online with its brand new Ovi Store, promising to deliver 50 million Nokia handset users to a promised land of downloadable games, applications, videos, music and more. And while it’s a comparison Nokia won’t be keen on the mobile world making too readily, it’s got some stiff competition from the likes of the iPhone in terms of access and usability. So how does it stand up?

In an effort to start from scratch, we journeyed to the Ovi Store through our N81’s dowloads catalogue, where a new Ovi application has appeared. But teething troubles seem to have befallen the system, as the dedicated application disappeared as quickly as it arrived, redirecting the handset to the WAP site instead.

Of course, there’s the possibility that Nokia quickly decided the Ovi application is superfluous, since the WAP site is sweetly accessible.

There appears to be a rather heavy burden on it at the moment, being the launch day, and the occasional page struggled to load. But on the whole the WAP site was impressively fast, with almost every click reacting instantly and just enough imagery to brighten the lists without adding megabytes of expensive data to your browsing.

The Ovi Store is categorised into a few simple headings: Games, Apps, Audio & Video, Personalisation and Recommended, with a further menu heading to view the stuff you’ve already downloaded - aptly titled My Stuff.

Browsing through the lists can be further refined by switching between paid, free and all apps, while searching is available from just about every page.

Right from the outset the Ovi Store appears to be very well populated: rich with all the nomadic, fragmented games and applications for Nokia handsets that have been wandering the cyber-ether for years, now brought together under one glorious standard.

And it seems Nokia has been wooing the interest of big media players, with a host of supporting content to augment the mobile games – videos, wallpaper and music all based around popular themes with a game or application at their core.

You can browse the system fully without signing up, though you need to register before making your purchases, which can be done securely without leaving the Ovi WAP site. You’ve also got the option of adding in a credit card details with each purchase, or allowing the system to store your card details to speed up future buying.

The individual listings manage to pack in just enough info to inform you adequately before downloading or buying, with a selection of screenshots, related apps and content and the option to send a link via email.

The Android Market highlighted how important screenshots are by excluding them, so it’s great to see the Ovi Store plugging that particular gap and including the other prerequisite of app store systems: user reviews.

Although it only uses a three star system (which is a little vague, to be honest. Five stars speaks volumes more about a game or app’s quality) you can add user reviews through the WAP site to leave your mark on a download.

Purchases go through a number of screens that make sure you’re not spending by mistake, while access to free content is immediate and seamless.

Grabbing a quick video, for instance, is pretty much as simple as pressing Play, and before any such content is closed you’re offered the option of saving it to your device or getting shut of it - making sure you’re not filling your handset up with nebulous web content or chucking something away that you want to keep.

So, although there are no particular surprises or revolutionary new ideas embedded in Nokia’s Ovi Store, it’s a system that's undeniably quick, clean and clever, and provides simple access to the wealth of games and software that’s built up for the company’s vast array of handsets over the years.

Admittedly, some of that software is damn expensive, but that’s not really the Ovi Store’s fault.

With any luck the dedicated Ovi application will come back online shortly, though the WAP system really isn’t an intermediate inconvenience at all, and we can only hope it grows to incorporate the N-Gage system to really bring Nokia’s wares under one delightfully functional roof.

Spanner Spencer
Spanner Spencer
Yes. Spanner's his real name, and he's already heard that joke you just thought of. Although Spanner's not very good, he's quite fast, and that seems to be enough to keep him in a regular supply of free games and away from the depressing world of real work.