London: Mobile phone giant Nokia launched its new Ovi brand at a conference in London last week and announced the launch of a number of new handsets.
The Finnish word for “door , Nokia will use Ovi to expand a wide range of internet services such as music, movie, and game downloads, its existent Global Positioning System (GPS), as well as a range of other online applications.
The move effectively classifies Nokia as an internet as well as a telecommunications company, which Chief Executive, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, said was “the beginning of the next new step for Nokia .
The rapidly expanding download market is something Nokia is looking to increase its share in, and last month the company underwent a restructuring process in which the services sector was repositioned as one of three main business units.
Thus far in the Middle East/North Africa region it has done a deal with a bilingual Jordanian photo and video sharing website, runs a number of Islamic applications and is currently in negotiations with EMI Music to secure rights to play Arabic music.
Among the handsets being launched were the new Xpress Music series – made up of the 5700, 5610, and 5310 – which are expected to hit the shelves in Cairo early next year.
The series is being marketed as a mobile phone and portable music player in one, featuring easy-to-use control buttons along the sides, lengthy playback times, large memories and high speed download and transfer times.
The NSeries, which also boasts considerable music-playing functions, has sold well in Egypt, though the long-awaited N95 has yet to be released due to undisclosed licensing complications. Nokia representatives told Daily News Egypt they expect it to be on sale in Egypt in the near future.
Also launched at the conference was the N81, which market analysts have dubbed as Nokia’s answer to the Apple iPhone.
When one journalist asked whether Nokia was deliberately copying some aspects of the iPhone, Anssi Vanjoki, head of Nokia s multimedia business, replied: If there is something good in the world, that helps the user interface, we will copy it with pride.
Like the Xpress series, the N81 should be on sale in Egypt early next year.
Nokia is currently the mobile phone market leader in the Middle East and North Africa, and has been in the Egyptian market over 10 years, where its market share is five times that of its nearest competitor.
