| Nokia opens smart phone platform to developers |
|
| by Ian Grayson | |
| Thursday, 03 September 2009 | |
  
In an effort to encourage more software developers to create applications for its devices, Nokia has unveiled a set of APIs and an SDK for its Ovi online portal.
The APIs (Application programming Interfaces) and SDK (Software Development Kit) will allow interested developers to create a range of applications that can run on a growing number of Nokia handsets. The Finnish phone giant is working hard to position its Ovi store as a competitor to Apple iTunes. Winning the hearts and minds of developers is a critical part of this strategy. According to Nokia’s executive vice president for services, Niklas Savander, the Ovi APIs and Ovi SDK greatly streamline the application development process. Speaking at the Nokia World event currently underway in Stuttgart, Germany, Savander said the company planned to progressively roll out mobile APIs for its services with the first being for Ovi Maps. “This can be used for any application to make it more relevant by starting with your location and then filtering information about it,” he said. The conference also heard a keynote presentation from Facebook’s director of mobile, Henri Moissinac, who emphasised the impact mobile devices are having on the world of social networking. “Mobile users are twice as engaged (with Facebook) as who use only the website,” he told delegates. Facebook has released an application for compatible Nokia handsets that allows users to directly post status updates and images to their Facebook accounts. “We’ve been very pleased with our relationship with Nokia,” said Moissinac. “Since its release in June, the Facebook application for Nokia is available for download in more than 150 countries and is currently one of the most distributed applications in the Ovi Store.” The Nokia World event continues today. |
Tags
| < Next story in category | Previous story in the category > |
|---|
