4 ms·

Nokia's Ovi app store goes live

14 points by aj 17y ago

mikeliu 17y ago
Is it just me? I find all the ovi services cluttered and hard to navigate. It just does not attract me as a user to spend time there learning their services or shop for apps. It looks and feels like any other corporate website. As much as nokia wants to concentrate on internet services, i just don't see it happening from the user's perspective.
- cubicle67 17y ago
  Have you tried it on a device, or are you just going by the screenshots?
millenomi 17y ago
It does not ship on devices at the moment, making it irrelevant in the great game of app-storeing.
- davidw 17y ago
  Given who developed it (some Finnish company that diversified out of rubber boot manufacturing), presumably it will ship on devices or otherwise be widely available, so I don't think it's "irrelevant".
- boundlessdreamz 17y ago
  You can download the "Ovi App" on existing Nokia phones
  - jimbokun 17y ago
    Chicken and egg, indeed. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=626603 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=626603
- aj 17y ago
  You are kidding right? You do not need an app to access the store. You can access it via your browser as well. And there is a downloadable app.
danw 17y ago
Here is one users attempt to use the new Ovi store http://shkspr.mobi/blog/index.php/2009/05/nokia-ovi-store-oh-dear/ http://shkspr.mobi/blog/index.php/2009/05/nokia-ovi-store-oh...
- cubicle67 17y ago
  And here's another's http://greenerdesktop.com/465/nokias-ovi-store-first-impressions http://greenerdesktop.com/465/nokias-ovi-store-first-impress...
  - pieter 17y ago
    After looking at that, I can't think anything but "wow, what ugly fonts".. I know that phone isn't an iPhone, but you can still try to do some antialiasing, or something, right? Also, the information density seems pretty low (compared to the App Store).
TweedHeads 17y ago
Whoever picked that name should be fired.
- cubicle67 17y ago
  You wait 'til you see the Palm Utus Store and MS' new Filopen Store :P
  - davidw 17y ago
    Here in Padova, there is a Via Falloppio: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=45.405923,11.886435&spn=0.004708,0.013947&z=17 http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=45.405923,11.886435&#... Named after the guy who discovered the body part, who was of course working at the University of Padova. Speaking of which, 'ovi' in this corner of Italy means 'eggs' (like chicken eggs) quite literally. In Italian, egg is 'uovo'. My wife had a good laugh when she saw the 'ovi store'.
  - TweedHeads 17y ago
    Utus ??? [Bangs head against sharp pencil]
- dirtyaura 17y ago
  It seems quite good brand name for a service that is targeted for a global audience. Super-short and quite easy to pronounce for speakers of different languages.
  - TweedHeads 17y ago
    How easier than store.nokia.com ? Or apps.nokia.com ? Or nokiapps.com ?
    - aj 17y ago
      Yes but those are boring and lack imagination (no offence meant to you but speaking from a global brand perspective) Ovi is different yet not overly complicated or difficult to pronounce or remember.
tyohn 17y ago
I'm a little disappointed by the reception this news item is getting here on HN, isn't this a great opportunity for developers? I know HN is heavily Apple orientated site and filled with Flash haters - but Nokia has millions of phones out there and by supporting Flash - gives the Ovi app store a good chance of success.

14 points by aj 17y ago

Is it just me? I find all the ovi services cluttered and hard to navigate. It just does not attract me as a user to spend time there learning their services or shop for apps. It looks and feels like any other corporate website. As much as nokia wants to concentrate on internet services, i just don't see it happening from the user's perspective.

cubicle67 17y ago
Have you tried it on a device, or are you just going by the screenshots?

millenomi 17y ago

It does not ship on devices at the moment, making it irrelevant in the great game of app-storeing.

davidw 17y ago
Given who developed it (some Finnish company that diversified out of rubber boot manufacturing), presumably it will ship on devices or otherwise be widely available, so I don't think it's "irrelevant".
boundlessdreamz 17y ago
You can download the "Ovi App" on existing Nokia phones
- jimbokun 17y ago
  Chicken and egg, indeed. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=626603 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=626603
aj 17y ago
You are kidding right? You do not need an app to access the store. You can access it via your browser as well. And there is a downloadable app.

danw 17y ago

Here is one users attempt to use the new Ovi store http://shkspr.mobi/blog/index.php/2009/05/nokia-ovi-store-oh-dear/ http://shkspr.mobi/blog/index.php/2009/05/nokia-ovi-store-oh...

cubicle67 17y ago
And here's another's http://greenerdesktop.com/465/nokias-ovi-store-first-impressions http://greenerdesktop.com/465/nokias-ovi-store-first-impress...
- pieter 17y ago
  After looking at that, I can't think anything but "wow, what ugly fonts".. I know that phone isn't an iPhone, but you can still try to do some antialiasing, or something, right? Also, the information density seems pretty low (compared to the App Store).

TweedHeads 17y ago

Whoever picked that name should be fired.

cubicle67 17y ago
You wait 'til you see the Palm Utus Store and MS' new Filopen Store :P
- davidw 17y ago
  Here in Padova, there is a Via Falloppio: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=45.405923,11.886435&spn=0.004708,0.013947&z=17 http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=45.405923,11.886435&#... Named after the guy who discovered the body part, who was of course working at the University of Padova. Speaking of which, 'ovi' in this corner of Italy means 'eggs' (like chicken eggs) quite literally. In Italian, egg is 'uovo'. My wife had a good laugh when she saw the 'ovi store'.
- TweedHeads 17y ago
  Utus ??? [Bangs head against sharp pencil]
dirtyaura 17y ago
It seems quite good brand name for a service that is targeted for a global audience. Super-short and quite easy to pronounce for speakers of different languages.
- TweedHeads 17y ago
  How easier than store.nokia.com ? Or apps.nokia.com ? Or nokiapps.com ?
  - aj 17y ago
    Yes but those are boring and lack imagination (no offence meant to you but speaking from a global brand perspective) Ovi is different yet not overly complicated or difficult to pronounce or remember.

tyohn 17y ago

I'm a little disappointed by the reception this news item is getting here on HN, isn't this a great opportunity for developers? I know HN is heavily Apple orientated site and filled with Flash haters - but Nokia has millions of phones out there and by supporting Flash - gives the Ovi app store a good chance of success.