Products & Services
What else could Ovi Store do?
By JBC on 06 November 2009
GLOBAL – This week a comment on our N-Gage moving to Ovi Store story sparked our brains into thinking about what else could fill the Ovi Store shelves. Right now we have apps, games, ringtones, wallpaper and videos kicking around, but what else could exist there? The comment in question raised the notion of it becoming a new home for Beta Labs. There are myriad reasons why that wouldn’t work (which we’ll cover below). As we’ve seen recently, improvements to the Ovi Store are coming thick and fast, and show no sign of abating. The team there are working 24/7 to whip things into shape and make the store the best place possible for as many users, and devices, as possible.
Nokia Beta Labs has been a huge success amongst those who are most engaged with their Nokia devices. Set up to solicit feedback from those who want to be the first to try new apps, and are prepared to put up with being genuinely involved in a development process (and where they have an input and impact on how apps finally turn out) the service has already seen plenty of app ‘graduates’. Some of the apps that are in the latter stages of development have already secured their place in the Ovi Store, but given the type of user required, not to mention the usefulness of the feedback, Ovi Store probably isn’t the best place for younger apps to live.
But Ovi Store’s shelves are plentiful and there’s always room for more. The question is, what? The Store’s remit is already broad, so it could be that introducing new categories of content isn’t what’s needed right now. What do you think?
If we look at the content that’s already stocked in Ovi Store, what do you think it needs more (or less) of? Last week’s poll showed us that those of you who get involved in apps, tend to veer towards having lots of them. And, with yesterday’s announcement about games, we’re sure to see a boost in the range of games stocked in the Store. Though some of the comments dismissed the games offering. What kind of games do you expect to find there?
So, here’s a chance to have your say. What do you think the Ovi Store needs? Different types of content, different types of apps, something else entirely. Your shout, let us know in the comments below.
We’ll be passing your feedback directly to the folks responsible for the Ovi Store. So don’t hold back!
Related posts:
- Nokia Beta Labs spring cleaned and psyched about Ovi Store
- Nokia Beta Labs update incoming
- Ovi Store – the new home for mobile gaming
Tags | N-Gage, Nokia beta labs, Ovi Store
November 6th, 2009 at 10:45 am
ngage on ovi store………
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November 6th, 2009 at 11:30 am
One of the major things the OVI Store needs is a better Search Engine as too many times I have searched for something and known it was there, but it was not found.
The Latest First view needs looking at too as this appears somewhat temperamental a lot of the time.
From a product point of view how about separation of Nokia products from 3rd party.
Also how about license purchasing for things like Nokia Maps.
Depending on how all encompassing you want to be you could add a FW section and incorporate Software Update.
Let’s go all the way and add Nokia Accessories too to make this a One-Stop-Shop fo all of your Nokia needs.
Finally how about links of some sort on the application pages to the specific manufacturer’s support pages.
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November 6th, 2009 at 11:49 am
i’d like to see eBooks and drm free albums.
Also, more and bigger screen shots in the app description. And lastly, better pricing! High quality iphone apps cost from $1 to $10 australian. On the ovi store most are around $20 with some going as high as $40! And they arnt even good apps! And dont get me started on the price of java games!
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November 6th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
It could really do with stuff that is adware being marked as such. I’ve downloaded several items this week that turned out to not be free.
I did comment within Ovi store that I thought it should be noted, but I had those comments “moderated” (presumably for being negative!)
Free & Ad Supported are not the same!
Also… Less Hanna Montana screensavers?
D
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November 6th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
“We’ll be passing your feedback directly to the folks responsible for the Ovi Store” Thanks for the opportunity.
- Ovi Store needs to provide a bit more info about contents. If I could, I’d add: file type, application type (JavaME / Symbian C++ / Python / WRT etc), download + installation sizes, version, total downloads.
- Ovi Store needs a better performing (than WRT, possibly native or based on QT) client. Current (WRT based?) client (for the devices I tried) is really acting slowly and experience isn’t joyful enough to shop actually.
- Ovi Store needs a better review system. Expand 3 stars to 5 stars. Add more review criteria like performance, function, price.
- Ovi Store needs a support community. Create a public support forum (just like http://discussions.europe.nokia.com/discussions/) with fixed threads which are automatically created for each content in store and make each thread’s link automatically shown in related Ovi Store content’s info view.
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November 6th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
I have no idea how Ovi Store looks like with paid applications or in what extend the store offers with paid set up having access only to free apps here in my country but I really do want the store to extend its offering to non app products like mobilephones, accesories, upgrades, license ovi maps, quickoffice among others.
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November 6th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
+1 to all of the above.
What the Ovi store also needs is [b]a place where users can post app requests and ideas.[/b]
This would bridge the divide between what developers may [i]think[/i] we want (yet another twitter app??) and what the actual user base is looking for !
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November 6th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
+1 to all of the above.
What the Ovi store also needs is a place where users can post app requests and ideas.
This would bridge the divide between what developers may think we want (yet another twitter app??) and what the actual user base is looking for !
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November 6th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Good, high quality themes by ace themers like babi, tehk7, dhanusaud etc. There is a huge market for themes and customizations. And you only have to look at the quality of themes by some of the top theme makers that ppl will gladly pay for them.
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November 6th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
More Games published by Nokia for S60 devices in .sis
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November 6th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
It could actually work. I cannot tell you how many times (as recently as yesterday) that apps I ask to have sent to my phone simply never show up. It also wouldn’t hurt to make the “relevant” items actually relevant. I just don’t need another “shirtless dude on the beach” wallpaper. I already have plenty, thanks.
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November 6th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Ciao,
– affiliate program, links to apps
It will increase traffic to the OVI Store.
Alessandro
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November 6th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
In addition to the things that have been said two other suggestions come to my mind:
- an update system, where you are notified when a new version of an app you bought/downloaded is available
- a dedicated ebook section. I actually enjoyed reading an ovi store ebook on my N97, and wish there would be more
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November 6th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
1. Better search engine. I didnt find any item i look for.
2. Need to perform faster.
3. When i download many application ‘My Stuff’ become crowded. Some of the applications i download and then remove it and decide not to use it and it make sense if i can remove it from My Stuff too but i couldnt find the option to do that.
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November 6th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
I know it aint gonna happen, but you could make a fortune selling on the N97 v2.0 firmware to UK Vodafone customers who are being let down by them not allowing Nokia to release it to us. It’s getting kinda annoying, especially since the current firmware version doesn’t work ver ywell at all
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November 7th, 2009 at 1:24 am
I think what the Ovi store and in general Nokia, needs more co-operation with the operators, so that the vast majority of the users can actually pay for the content either via the prepaid or post paid package they use with their phones. Not everyone has credit cards and also the prices need to come down a bit.
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November 7th, 2009 at 8:24 am
What Ovi Store really needs is PC&Mac client. Why? Many of us here in Europe don’t have flat rate data plan and we pay Euros / MB downloaded. It’s too expensive to download anything bigger.
Why don’t you have Ovi Store part in Nokia Ovi Suite? Would make perfect sense, if I could find/purchase/download/install content via Nokia Ovi Suite via USB cable to my device.
Love both Ovi Store and Nokia Ovi Suite!
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November 8th, 2009 at 2:11 am
Speed!! Its far too slow/clunky at the moment.
The interface is pretty messy too. Just copy Android Marketplace/iphone appstore GUI;)
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November 8th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
For Nokia fans who have used their phones through the years and faithfully upgraded to find some little favourite things that used to be a reason for having a Nokia is not there anymore. I’m talking about calculators, the diary, timers, birthdays etc & perhaps some old favourite themes, free of charge, for nostalgia’s sake. Snake was particularly good on the N95, I don’t like the nGage one.
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November 8th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
Ovi Store should be able tell us when newer versions of our downloaded applications become available.
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November 8th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
you need to seperate media like e-books from applications. You need to seperate free-trial-add supported better. You need to provide bigger screen shots and more app information. You must fix the search engine. You need to fix how when u select most recent you get a lot of old apps showing up. You need to include version information so i now if its a new version of a app or just a re listing.you need to provide a app update facility maybe in the my app section a little icon could say “update available”
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November 9th, 2009 at 3:51 am
An interface thats FAST, RESPONSIVE and more informing.
The current one is SLOW, painful to use, and just LAGGY….look at the palm pre, iphone and the android applications, they are extremely responsive.
How can it be so hard to make a good application to access the application store.
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November 9th, 2009 at 8:59 am
One current trend on the Apple Store seem to be magazines and other periodicals packaging their content into an app, simply to be able to utilize the billing system of the store for micropayments.
German publisher Axel Springer Press (Die Welt, Bild) even mulls blocking access to its free content on the website by iPhone customers using the browser, and instead requires people to buy a “news” app that requires a small fee. No matter what you think about this, this seems to be a bandwagon that many content vendors are trying to get on, so perhaps a campaign with publishers “Monetize your content on Ovi Store” could open some doors…
btw: the mention of apps graduating from betalabs should also serve as a cautionary tale for rolling out new Ovi products too fast, if you look at the comments on this thread: [http://betalabs.nokia.com/blog/2009/10/13/nokia-ovi-suite-20-beta-graduated] – this seems to indicate that sometimes apps get to graduate despite an unusually large percentage of comments indicating it is not yet ready for release. I hope this is not going to end up as a stain on the Ovi brand.
ciao marcus
ps: it should probably be “solicit” feedback, rather than “illicit”.
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JBC Reply:
November 9th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Good spot Marcus, thanks. Changed now.
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November 12th, 2009 at 2:54 am
Anything!!!! Nothing worse than a tech company that does bad tech. Ovi loads slow… Has nothing to speak of in the way of apps. I could not believe how little of interest ovi had the first time I went there.Pages poorly orginized , lets make it look like we have lots of apps by only putting a few on every page. maemo 5 is starting to look Just like symbian s60 apps, they are scattered all over different sites. I was looking forward to the N900. But now I have cancelled my order. POOR customer support, poor app support. And have been jerked around hard with release date lies. There is a reason nokia is bleeding market share and is no longer the $$$$ world leader in sales. Ovi store vs itunes app store, No contest. And I do not think nokia is even trying. Costomer care, no contest. You would think Nokia would take a hard look around and see what an easy to use app site ,and a great UI and support can do and learn… But alas no!
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November 12th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Improve categorisation of Apps – putting widgets in a seperate folder would be a start rather than having them mashed up with regular Apps (and just have a flag with the main App that there’s a widget). Stop so much dual listing make sure that only the most up to date version is listed and show which version it is/what date, make it clear which are actually 100% free in perpetuity and which are not, add an alpahbetical index allow option to sho more apps per page, improve speed, add a seperate zone for books (they’re not apps), never recommned wallpaper, attract some decent games writers, significantly improve the recommendation system allow more comments per page/kudos system and stop censoring negative remarks. In fact as many said go look at how Apple and Android do it – it’s a mess and a pain to use (months to get re-downloads for heaven’s sake). The whole site runs too slowly and finding/browsing apps takes too long especially on mobile.
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November 23rd, 2009 at 11:44 pm
Address the key issues:
(1) Develop some high-quality graphical apps, most apps today are really bad quality in both the user presentation and functional areas. Stop worrying about the older phone which has a far less resolution – they are not the market segments that you want to target with Ovi.
(2) Provide incentives for the big software houses to join forces with you to develop useful and updated apps.
(3) Learn and copy features from other successful competitors (i.e. iTune store).
(4) Make the fully functioned version free for download and use (at least for the next 24 months), such as Nokia Messaging Service.
Ovi is not a money maker – it’s a add-on service for Nokia to compete with other phone manufacturer (i.e. Apple). It is a fatal mistake to think that Ovi is there for Nokia to increase its revenue.
Ovi is there to protect Nokia’s market share from continuing eroding in the face of strong competition. It is therefore important to establish it’s present and its variety of application within a very short period of time (i.e. months if not weeks).
The customer segments that you are targeting will switch to other manufacturers within days / weeks (willing). You do not have the luxury of time to take it slow. You must act now, and act lightening fast. IMHO, this is the battleground for the future Nokia. It is in my view that Nokia will slowly fade away in the mobile phone market should the Ovi initiative failed.
I am a die-hard Nokia fans and have been using Nokia’s phone for the last decade. It’s sad that I am finding it difficult to justify why I should hang onto my Nokia phone because of the lack of quality add-on features (arguably, hardly any). I am in the process of shopping for my next phone (e72 vs iphone vs bb bold), sad to say that e72 appears have the least to offer.
I hope Nokia will take drastic action to address the issue in this space, otherwise I am afraid Nokia will fall just like IBM did at the peak of their business in the 1990s.
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