Ovi (Nokia)

Ovi
Developer(s)Nokia
Initial release29 August 2007; 17 years ago (29 August 2007)
Operating systemSymbian OS (S60)
Series 40
Maemo
Microsoft Windows
macOS
PlatformMobile, PC, Web
TypeOnline services
WebsiteOvi.com (archived)

Ovi (Finnish: ovi, lit. 'door'[1]) was the brand for Nokia's Internet services from 2007 to 2012. It was designed to be an umbrella brand as Nokia attempted to expand into software and Internet services instead of just mobile hardware.[2] Ovi focused on five key service areas offered by Nokia: Games, Maps, Media, Messaging and Music.

The first services that rolled out in 2007 were Ovi Maps, Ovi Music Store and N-Gage.[3][4] It was initially available for internet-enabled Nokia feature phones and S60 smartphones, and also accessible via the Web and on PC, via Ovi Suite.[5] Nokia also developed APIs for third-parties to make use of Ovi services.[6] A key component was the Ovi Store, an app marketplace which launched in 2009.[7] It faced strong competition particularly from Apple's App Store. As of January 2012, there were exactly 10 million downloads every day,[8] also 158 developers reached over 1 million downloads for their apps on the Ovi Store.[2]

On 16 May 2011, Nokia announced the discontinuation of the Ovi brand and the services rebranded under the Nokia brand. The transition began in July 2011 and was completed by the end of 2012.[5] Most of the constituent services were subsequently either closed or integrated into Microsoft's own services after its acquisition of Nokia devices and services division in 2014.

  1. ^ Niccolai, James (4 December 2007). "Nokia Lays Plan for More Internet Services". New York Times. Retrieved 9 December 2007.
  2. ^ a b "Ovi - doorway to the future?". All About Symbian. 5 September 2007. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  3. ^ "Nokia's Online Play". Forbes. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  4. ^ "Ovi - doorway to the future?". All About Symbian. 5 September 2007. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Nokia Rebrands Ovi Amid Rumors of Microsoft Purchase". 16 May 2011. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference ovimapsplayerapiannouncement was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Nokia Developer - Global reach statistics Archived 10 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Developer.nokia.com (31 January 2012). Retrieved 2013-07-17.