Along with its snazzy new batch of mobile phones, Nokia has also launched a new umbrella brand for all its internet services. It's called Ovi, which means 'door' in Finnish, and will help you keep in touch with your social networks, as well as acting as a gateway to Nokia services like music and games downloading.
Ovi works in a similar way to Three's Planet Three service which operates as a portal for downloading music and games, as well as for checking your contract details.
Speaking at the Nokia Go Play event in London, Nokia president Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said: "The industry is converging towards internet driven experiences and Ovi represents Nokia's vision in combining the internet and mobility. Nokia is the number one mobile device company in the world.
"Looking into the future, we will deliver great devices, combined with compelling experiences and services, to make it easy for people to unlock the potential of the internet."
Ovi will be the doorway to accessing Nokia's internet services on your mobile. These services include Nokia Maps, N-Gage games and the new Nokia Music Store (see below). It will also be an open door to web communities, enabling people to access their web content, communities and contacts from a single place, either directly from a compatible Nokia device or from a PC.
New Nokia Music Store
The aforementioned Nokia Music Store is another of Nokia's launches today. It's been a long time coming, but the store is set to offer millions of tracks from major artists and independent labels, as well as local bands from your area.
In the UK, the Three Music Store is currently the number two music download site behind iTunes so Nokia has every right to expect its own service to fare rather well. The pricing is going to be pretty much the same as other sites too - around 79p for each 192kbps WMA track.
The first version of Ovi.com is scheduled to go live in English at some point towards the end of the year, while the music store is set to open its virtual doors in the autumn.
