Nokia's Ovi Store Reaches 2.3 Million Daily Downloads

Nokia N8

Nokia's Ovi Store is delivering 2.3 million downloads a day and more than 200,000 people are signing up daily for its Ovi services, Nokia said Friday. The services are available in 190 countries, Nokia said, and include Maps, Music, Messaging and Store. Its Life Tools service is also available in some countries.

Some 70 developers and publishers have surpassed the million-download mark for their content in the Ovi Store, Nokia said. Content in this category includes Digital Chocolate, Electronic Arts, Gameloft, Indiagames, PepsiCo, Qik, Shazam, HeroCraft and Offscreen Technologies. HeroCraft, publisher of the game Farm Frenzy, has topped 10 million downloads and Offscreen, which develops touchscreen apps, more than 45 million, Nokia said. There are 14 content creators from the U.S.; 39 from Europe, the Middle East and Africa; 10 from Asia Pacific and seven from China, the Finnish maker of Symbian-based mobile devices said.

"At Nokia, we believe that connecting people with great mobile experiences is at the heart of what Ovi is all about," said Tero Ojanpera, executive vice president, Services, Nokia. "Today people discover Ovi through Maps, Music, Messaging, Store and Life Tools."

Nokia's latest smartphone, the Nokia N8, will be the first to debut new content in the Ovi Store, which the company said has been updated for a "friendlier look and feel, faster content discovery," and additional content offerings including the location-based social networking site Foursquare, released this week, and the game Angry Birds.

The Nokia Qt Software Development Kit (SDK) has been enhanced so that the number of lines of code required when developing for the Symbian smartphones has been reduced by 70%, the company said. Ovi Maps has also been expanded to include new features including walk and drive navigation in 78 countries and 46 languages, along with public transit details in more than 80 cities, the company said. Usage of Ovi Maps on a daily basis equates to driving around the world 80 times, Nokia said.

Ovi Music is interconnected with the Gig Finder app to find relevant entertainment venues through a person's musical preferences and is available in 38 markets worldwide. The company also reported that its Ovi Mail and Chat features have over 17 million accounts, and Ovi Life Tools has grown to more than 4.7 million subscribers in China, India and Indonesia for its agricultural, educational and entertainment services.