On Monday Nokia announced that it’s killing off the Ovi brand. Beginning in July and August, the Finnish firm will rebrand its Ovi products under the “Nokia services” moniker, and the transition will continue into next year. “By centralizing our services identity under one brand, not two, we will reinforce the powerful master brand of Nokia and unify our brand architecture – while continuing to deliver compelling opportunities and experiences for our partners and consumers alike,...

In a recent blog post, Nokia reaffirmed its commitment to the Windows Phone ecosystem by offering us a glimpse at what is to come. The company’s CEO, Stephen Elop, has noted that Nokia has “shifted from a mode of developing” its strategy to one of “putting that strategy into action.” Part of the Finnish phone giants plans involve bringing some of Nokia’s strengths to all members of the Windows Phone family, and one of the most exciting Symbian ports will definitely be Ovi...

IHS, new owner of research firm iSuppli, has issued its full-year data on app stores in 2010. According to the company’s report, Apple’s market share decreased significantly last year while its revenue more than doubled. The app store pioneer pulled in $1.78 billion in global app sales during 2010, up 132% from the $769 million its App Store earned in 2009. Not surprisingly, its market share dropped from 93% in 2009 to 83% during the period. RIM’s BlackBerryApp World grew 360% year-over-year...

Reuters is reporting that mobile giant Nokia will stop offering its free music downloads service — Ovi Music — to new handset purchasers. The service, which initially launched in 2008, has received a luke warm reception due to the restrictive DRM used by Nokia, more competitive music service options, and lack of carrier support. Customers who currently have a free music subscription will be able to use the service until their subscription runs out. Universal, EMI, Warner, and Sony had partnere...

Nokia has just made a new, beta version of its Ovi Maps suite available for download via the Beta Labs channel. The update, version number 3.6, allows users to download street maps directly to their device using Wi-Fi, features a new, unified “My Position” and “Search” feature, improves transit line display, and betters compass calibration on your device. If you’re a Symbian user, and want to try out the new goods, head on over to Nokia’s Labs site and have yourself a downl...

Late yesterday, Nokia announced the availability of a public beta for its new software synchronization suite, Ovi 3.0. The new Ovi has been in private testing for the past several months and Nokia is promising improved “stability, syncing and the experience with downloading maps.”“We have been working hard to improve the quality of Nokia Ovi Suite,” reads the press release. “We have also introduced a new Home view, and integrated our music experience with the millions of trac...

Nokia is certainly not the first cell phone company that comes to mind when the topic of App Stores is raised. Here in the U.S., it’s probably not even the second, third or fourth company that comes to mind. But as the market for mobile apps continues to explode globally, Nokia is quietly proving it still has plenty of gas left in the tank.Nokia announced a new milestone for its Ovi Store Thursday morning: 3 million downloads per day. The impressive milestone comes with just 18,000 content titles curren...

Today, Nokia announced that they have signed an agreement to acquire U.S. mobile analytics company Motally. Motally “offers in-application tracking and reporting, and is designed to enable developers and publishers to optimize the development of their mobile applications through increased understanding of how users engage.” Motally’s services are to be adapted for Qt, Symbian, MeeGo, and Java. Nokia has also said they will continue to serve Motally’s current customer base (e.g. Yelp, F...

Nokia’s facing a pretty bleak future when it comes to the world of smartphones, so the launch of the E73 Mode with T-Mobile couldn’t have come at a better time. Designed with business professionals in mind, but has enough features to make the average user happy including a 5 megapixel camera, free turn-by-turn navigation via Ovi Maps, and 10.2Mbps HSDPA which should make the device quite the speed king thanks to T-Mobile’s rapidly expanding 21Mbps HSPA+ network. The Mode is attractively pric...

It looks like Symbian freaks based in Canada who already have the N97 from Bell will be able to get themselves a new plaything this summer, as Rogers is launching the Nokia N97 Mini. The device isn’t actually for sale yet but is rather being shipped out to dealers across the country, but barring any last minute chances it looks like the outright price of the N97 Mini has been set at $499.99 while the 3-year price is $99.99. Anyone planning to get this, or are you going to avoid it just like you would ...

And once again we have proof that where there’s a good amount of smoke, there’s likely to be fire. Today Nokia announced it will be bringing the E73 Mode, a Symbian S60 device said to offer a perfect balance between work-life and, uh, life-life, to T-Mobile. Best thought of as a E72 with a facelift, the Mode features not only a 2.4″ QVGA display, full-QWERTY keypad, 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and 10.2Mbps HSDPA, but also free turn-by-turn navigation from Ovi Maps. The Nokia E73 Mode will b...

Nokia and Yahoo! have announced the formation of a strategic partnership — on a global scale — that will, “leverage each others’ strengths in e-mail, instant messaging and maps and navigation services, to provide consumers with access to world-class experiences on both PC and mobile devices.” The newly formed alliance will work to meld the strengths of each company:Nokia will be the exclusive, global provider of Yahoo!’s maps and navigation services, integrating Ovi Maps across Yah...

AT&T made a pretty big splash last year when it launched the Nokia E71x, and now it appears that T-Mobile is hoping to do the same on June 16th. That’s the date Engadget has been informed T-Mobile will introduce a new, business-centric and Symbian-based QWERTY smartphone from Nokia known as the E73 Mode. Other than it will have 3G and Wi-Fi, concrete specs have yet to emerge (although we think it pretty safe to assume it will best the E72 based upon nothing but our knowledge of Nokia’s naming...

If you’re a fan of low-cost messaging phones with a social twist, prepare to lose your mind, for Nokia today announced three such devices in the C3, C6 and E5. The most basic of the bunch is the C3, which just so happens to be the first Symbian S40 device to ever feature a full-QWERTY keypad. It offers a 2.4″ QVGA display, 2 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, Ovi Chat, Ovi Mail and support for microSD cards up to 8GB. It will be be available in golden white, slate grey and hot pink in Q2 for 90€ ($122 US...