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Fuzzy Logic Nokia N97 officially launched, Ovi Store clocks up 20,000 apps
Fuzzy Logic Nokia N97 officially launched, Ovi Store clocks up 20,000 apps | Nokia N97 officially launched, Ovi Store clocks up 20,000 apps |
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| by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Wednesday, 01 July 2009 | |
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Claims the keyboard could have had more “travel” when keys are pressed seem valid, although I could type fast enough on the physical keyboard when I tried it. Given much of the N97 OS is quite similar to the Nokia 5800 touch screen device, which I am using, the interface was instantly familiar. While not as smooth as the iPhone user interface, it’s still Nokia’s best – and only – touch-screen and phone OS at the moment. There is talk of the “Symbian Foundation” delivering a next-gen phone OS to Nokia sometime next year, but for now it’s S60 5th edition. Given so much about the N97 was already known long before the official launch event, and given the N97 builds upon all the N-Series goodness we’ve seen since the Nokia N95, with the N97 being the latest ultimate refinement of the N-Series “multimedia computer” promise, one of the most interesting aspects for me at today’s launch was the announcement that the Ovi store now offers 20,000 apps. A computer is designed to run apps, and while Nokia has long had its own app store called “Download!” on many N and E-series devices, it never performed as smoothly or as quickly as the iPhone’s App Store. Apps were never massively promoted as Apple has recently done with its “there’s an app for that” campaign, but this is all changing with the Ovi Store which looks very similar to the iPhone App Store (and those from Google Android and the BlackBerry market). Nokia is going to heavily promote its Ovi Store and promises regular updates on many new apps to come soon, showing Nokia is finally taking this whole third party app business very seriously. Given that it took a couple of years for Ovi to actually launch, one could have been forgiven for thinking Nokia didn’t really care, but its “20,000 apps” announcement today puts Apple on notice that the great mobile phone giant is stirring as never before, probably somewhat stung by the iPhone’s incredible popularity. This is evidenced by a comment from Emile Baak, Nokia’s Australia’s MD, who said: “The convergence of the Internet, mobility and context-awareness is changing the way people communicate, share, search and consume information. “The Nokia N97 delivers on our promise to create a highly personalised Internet experience similar to what you would expect from a PC, but with the benefits of mobility and immediacy.” Of course anyone with an iPhone or even a Nokia N-Series device that regularly browses the web, checks email, plays with apps, uses online services, YouTube and plenty more already knows this and has experienced it. But now with the N97 (and the success of the iPhone!), Nokia’s push is stronger than ever, you can have a screen as big as the iPhone’s and a ‘today/home screen’ that can show a lot more information sourced from online sources than the iPhone, which usually needs you to enter an application first. So, how far has the Ovi Store spread, how much is the Nokia N97 in Australia, and what are my final thoughts - for now? Please read on to the final page. |
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