Numiko, an award winning Leeds based digital creative agency

Last week I went to the Nokia Ovi Store developer’s event at the Leeds Met Rose Bowl.I had little prior experience of using Ovi apps (By that I mean, I downloaded one before I went) and to be honest the only articles I had read about the Ovi store were about the launch, which did not sound too promising.

(The Ovi store, by the way, is basically a Nokia version of the app store. I think that’s fair to say, everyone knows what that means. Basically, it’s  place to download Nokia apps from. For your phone. And it’s pronounced Ovvi, not Oh-vee).

Anyway! There isn’t much content there at the moment, hence the reason for this event. Nokia are asking developers to create content, and in return they are offering to help promote and market our apps. And I did get a sense that this offer of support for developers was a sincere one. Makes sense – to promote Nokia apps = to promote Nokia devices, but even so it is nice to be asked! And all that aside, actually finding out how to make apps was quite exciting, as the prospect of having something new to learn always is.  So. What did I find out?

What are the business opportunities? How do you get your apps onto people’s phones?

• – Ovi Store
• – Pre-load (Apps that are pre-installed on the handset) These vary according to the handset, which will be targeted towards a particular audience. There are some apps that are common to all devices, like Facebook, and then there are also regional variations, for example BBC iPlayer on UK phones, and Le Monde newspaper app on French phones. Developers are advised to think about the target audience for their app and match that to the appropriate handset. There is more information about this at Forum Nokia.  There are also regional Ovi stores, (although curiously not one for Finland).
• – Operators e.g. http://dailymobile.se/2009/06/10/russian-mobile-operator-to-sell-nokia-n97-with-exclusive-mts-widgets/
• – Smartphone app distribution sites like Handango or Handmark

What is the market? What phones should I develop for?

• The S60 platform 3^rd and 5^th edition are both good target handset groups, although that doesn’t seem to narrow it down much. However the top 2 devices for Ovi store downloads are the 5800 and N97. The speaker also seemed to think it reasonable that developers should focus on the touchscreen phones.   All future handsets will have the Ovi store app installed.

• Huge growth, Ovi store downloads up 70% from Sept-Oct 2009. Example app: ‘Dad’s cab’: 70,000 downloads in 7 weeks.

The most important bit – how do you actually make apps for Nokia?

• – Symbian C++: development for S60 mobile platform only. Hardcore!
• – Qt: cross platform framework, allows ease of transition from desktop to mobile development. And, from the horses mouth: “An application can be easily ported to multiple platforms, thereby increasing the opportunity for application sales.”
• – Web Runtime: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript!
• – Java
• – Flash Lite

There is also the possibilty of funding for Flash applications from the Open Screen Project Fund

More info about Nokia SDKs on the Nokia forum

So, basically there are loads of ways to develop Nokia apps, which is great. There are also loads of phones, which is not so great, and you can’t do everything with all phones so check what SDKs are supported by your target phone – e.g.  http://www.forum.nokia.com/devices/N97/ (scroll down for ‘Recommended SDK(s)’) Of particular interest to me is the Web Runtime, which allows you to develop apps using HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

Ovi store QA and moderation takes approximately 5 working days (Faster than the app store!). For testing apps there is the Remote Device Access service, which basically does what it says – you can test on a device remotely, and if you sign up to the developer program you can also get access to free handsets for testing which is great. (Registration is 300 Euros though).