Ovi – Nokia’s door to the future
Fantastic post written by the folks at BigMouthMedia - So good in fact, I will reblog in full here:
Ovi by Nokia is the name for the Finnish giant’s internet services. Ovi, meaning “door” in Finnish was an aptly chosen moniker as Ovi really opens the door for Nokia to move into the ever promising mobile advertising world.
When thinking of internet marketing people often call to mind giants such as Google, Microsoft & Yahoo!, but not so much Nokia. This may all change in the future as bigmouthmedia suspects Nokia is poised to become a household name in digital.
Nokia, over the past few years, has made a number of very high profile and key acquisitions for huge fees that will truly allow Nokia to open up mobile marketing. Ovi itself is a crossbreed of some of the web’s most profitable and well-loved websites under one roof.
Service Offerings
In order to get you familiar with Ovi, below is a list of service offerings of Ovi and an eagle eye approach to what other internet players are doing:
Maps
Ovi, like Google and Yahoo! maps is an interactive mapping service that allows you to get directions, information, etc. Nokia purchased NAVTEQ, the largest mapping data provider in 2007. NAVTEQ allowed Nokia to break into the mobile maps and local world which is thought to be a big revenue generator for the major online players such as Google.
Social Media
Ovi allows users to share their location, like Google Latitude, and has Twitter-like functionality with a more geolocation theme enabling users to Twitter their whereabouts then let users see and find out what they’re up to. In order for Nokia to have such functionalities, they purchased social media companies Plazes and Loopt.
File Sharing
Ovi allows users to upload and share photographs, music, files etc and sync them with other devices e.g. your PC. Nokia purchased Avvenu, a type of “cloud computing” company that supports this demand. Google and Microsoft are currently going head to head, trying to win this humungous battle. As the digital world expands, the need for software and files to be hosted on standalone machines becomes obsolete. Google and Microsoft know this and will push to host all in a “cloud” form via the internet. Nokia look to be part of this, as mobile phones and laptops are the communication devices that will prevail over desktops.
Music & Game Downloads
Ovi has the ability to allow users to download music and games. This may take away part of Apple’s iTunes market share, as Nokia downloads will be available on your PC (via file sharing) and mobile, and act as an all-in-one MP3 player. Nokia purchased Loudeye, the US digital music company that owns On-Demand Distribution.
Open Source
Nokia purchased Trolltech, an open-source software development toolkit company that will enable the cross installation of Ovi on mobile phones, PC’s and other devices. This may enable Ovi to be used on any operating system. Additionally, this opens up a new arm to Nokia as Trolltech can act as a way for open source developers to create applications for Nokia-enabled mobile phones similar to the way Google Android works. Trolltech may then be able to bridge the gap between different mobile operating systems, making the purpose of creating a better application better (for support) on Trolltech.
Nokia also bought mobile operating system Symbian, which has about 60% of the global smartphone market with its technology. Nokia then announced its plans to make this software free of charge, which would then increases its strong arm in comparison to Google and Apple’s current move into the mobile O/S world.
Overall, Ovi by Nokia is the new dog; a man’s best friend. It has really captured all the main aspects of digital and brought them under one roof. Nokia clearly put plenty of thought and money behind Ovi with the intention of spotting where the money may lie in the next century.
With that in mind, Nokia now has various mobile advertising possibilities and networks where they can reach users; web, local, social, etc. In comparison to Google, Microsoft and Yahoo!, as mobile continues to blossom, Nokia will begin to creep its way into the highly profitable world of digital that Google has so long prevailed in. That is, of course, if Nokia’s Ovi is a success. Boasting a 60% market share outside the US, I wouldn’t bet against them, would you?
Let’s not even talk about “what would happen if Yahoo! or Microsoft bought Nokia?”, or should it be vice versa with Nokia doing the buying in order to get s small percentage of the search and marketing value? Who knows. Let the battle commence.
Media Twitterati
About time someone put a comprehensive list together of active media tweeps, and who better to do it than DIGITCOOL – If it looks/sounds cool then they blog about it.
Thanks to the folks @DIGITCOOL for the inclusion, much appreciated :-)
Check out the list here.
Nokia Indoor Positioning
Here’s something I think is going to be the future.
Have no doubt that the technology and methods of execution will change but the concept is what I love.
People get so funny about the worry of giving away data but don’t realise just how much they are making public already – Every time you make a phone call, check your email, use your credit/debit card or even use your Oyster card you are releasing incredibly detailed data.
Instead of fighting against people using this information, I would be interested to see more opportunities made available from brands I love to allow them greater insight into my life.
I would also like to have greater control to exclude the ones I don’t like – Yes, that means you Mr.Barclaycard. STOP trying to sell me loans because you can ’see that I have an excellent credit rating’. If I want some cash, I’ll ask.
Anyway, check out this incredible offering from Nokia, all about the future of location – What a logical next step:
19th February, 7pm – London Media Poker Night at One Alfred Place
Thursday, February 19th – First hand dealt at 7PM
After an outrageously successful first event, the great team at One Alfred Place have set the date for the next poker night and again, the whole show will be proudly sponsored by Woodford Reserve.
The exclusive members club provides the perfect setting for London’s media crew to trade banter as well as chips across the poker table. The final table will have it’s own dealer and there will be free drinks for those that are quick, courtesy of the generous people at Woodford Reserve.
The prize fund is expected to be over £500 and the winner will also take home a bottle of Woodford Reserve premium bourbon.
Entry is free for club members and £5 for non-members (got to be worth it for the free drinks alone!).
Tournament buy-in is £10, all of which goes directly into the pot (no registration fee).
Seats are limited and entry is strictly by guest list only.
Email, call, text or tweet guest list requests to cranealistair@gmail.com, 07886 465 471, @adfundal with attendee and company names.
Map:
DIGITCOOL – Showing brands true colours
My good friend and ex-colleague, Adam Levene has launched a brilliant new site for anyone interested in Digital Media, Advertising, Business Music and Entertainment.
The content is awesome and the site is beautiful – www.digitcool.co.uk
Check out the promo video he has created. This is why I tipped him a rapidly rising star and why it was such an immense pleasure to work with him on so many exciting projects – No doubt we will team up again in the not too distant future but for the time being, check out his latest solo effort:
Bridging the gap between old and new media
Yesterday I had the pleasure of lunching with someone who has been very kind and encouraging to me since I joined the UK mobile advertising fraternity.
Annabel Hembry is Head of Mobile at Associated Newspapers and one of the few realists that you will meet in this game.
She has masses of previous experience and isn’t afraid to highlight that something won’t work, is overpriced, isn’t technically possible… you get the idea. But she also is the first one to push forward ideas that are possible, and will make sense as well as cents (and the rest).
I have a huge amount of respect for what she has done, especially with the launch of the Metro mobile site – Very cool indeed.
Annabel has managed to successfully bridge the gap between her colleagues working on the long-established traditional media side of the business and the Directors who are looking to create revenue streams from new media.
By offering exclusive content that people are interested in, through innovative platforms she has created an environment in which users are actually prepared to spend money on content in return for enjoyment – No spam, no secret billing, just a great service that people like.
There need to be more people like her, at least one in every major department of any sizeable traditional media owner – Right now that is not the case, the demand from media owners to employ people who understand new media is increasing but there is a distinct lack of experience coupled with talent in mobile. This will undoubtedly change over time, the sooner the better.
You can follow Annabel on Twitter @Bels1 or see her speak at a number of leading industry events - more on this soon.
Catastrophic Verizon FAIL
On the whole, Verizon are a good carrier with impressive aspirations who have made some excellent investments and partnerships, especially those to do with mobile advertising.
This doesn’t make them infallible, they are still subject to the odd fail every now and again.
Very, very funny:
NAVTEQ power maps for The Superbowl
No other maps look this good.
