The Ovi Store went live in a handful of countries yesterday, but for lesser markets such as the United States, I had to wait until this morning to get my glimpse. If you haven’t already, you can check out the Ovi Store in one of 2 ways – if you’ve got a Download! app on your phone, open it up, click Options, Refresh Content, and then look for an Ovi Store icon. It was right there on my 5800 XpressMusic, but other readers are reporting that it was hidden in the ‘Nokia Extras’ or ‘Promos’ folder. You can also just fire up your phone’s web browser and go to store.ovi.com.
So, what’s it like? Does it live up to expectations? Yes and no. For starters, the servers are getting hammered today, as everyone is checking things out, likely at the same time. Nokia’s huge, and this is one of their major launches, so they should have prepared for that, but it’s likely a temporary situation, as traffic averages out over the next few days. You can obviously access the store either through the browser or through an app. On the 5800 XpressMusic, this application is native, though other phones are reportedly using a widget.
I also have a major issue with one point in the UI, specifically on the 5800 XpressMusic. I have to login to my Nokia Account to download anything – no problem, it’s free to setup an account, and makes sense. Unfortunately, the ‘Sign Out’ button is MASSIVE, and the store application, on my 5800 XpressMusic, doesn’t have an option to save my login details. That means every time I launch the store, I have to re-login. The massive button is also entirely too prominently displayed throughout the store, and I’ve accidentally logged myself out a number of times already, as I excitedly try to click on other things.
Another issue that many have foreseen is policing of applications. For instance, this SMS Preview application. It’s listed as free, and even in the description, proudly boasts that you should try it because it’s free..Seriously! Unfortunately, if you scroll only a few lines down, you quickly realize that it is *not* free, but rather a 14-day trial, after which it will cost you. We saw this sort of dishonesty in Download! for a while (it was subsequently replaced with a more honest ‘Free To Try’ label). Hopefully Nokia will be keeping a watch on these sort of shenanigans.
Another UI niggle is in the installation of content. If you open the Options, Account, Settings, you’ll see that you can specify whether content is installed to your phone’s internal memory or your memory card. This is a fantastic idea, and I’m glad to see it implemented. I have been hoping that the Ovi Store would eliminate most of the torrential confirmations needed to install an application or theme. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear as though this setting is used. When trying to download the AP News application, I still see the popup asking where to install, and it’s not even defaulted to my setting.
So what’s good about the Ovi Store? Well, for starters, the social aspect is there, and well implemented. Once you’ve installed an application, you can simply press ‘Send to Friend’ to send your friend an SMS link. Since the Ovi Store is available through the web browser, this is not dependent on your friend having the store application installed, though obviously he/she would need to have a Symbian-powered smartphone. You simply enter in their mobile number and away it goes. Note that there is a limit of 5 messages, to prevent spam. Nice.
TechCrunch is calling the launch of the Ovi Store a disaster. While I likely wouldn’t go that far, it is quite abysmal. Most of these issues should be ironed out by the end of the week, without question. The problem is, how many users will wait that long? Most consumers that I know – the non-technical, ungeekly-type, do not give things more than one, maybe two chances.
In the meantime, there is a wealth of great applications available in the Symbian-Guru Store, and you can purchase directly from your phone, as well. Simply direct your phone’s browser to Store.Symbian-Guru.com, and you’ll automatically get the mobile-friendly version, with full access to the store.
