Will AT&T block the Ovi Store on the E71x? Let’s be fair now AT&T
I am really enjoying the Nokia E71x and as you know I have been able to get over most of the AT&T bloatware on the device. I communicated with my Nokia contact regarding support for the Ovi Store, scheduled to launch sometime this month, but they have not yet confirmed that it will supported on the E71x. I am becoming a bit more concerned about the support for the E71x after reading my buddy Sascha Segan’s post on the issue. (Thanks for the link to the story Brad.) We may see the Ovi Store launch in the US, but with support only for unlocked devices while carrier branded ones are left to the mercy of the US carriers.
This would be quite disappointing for Nokia and US consumers who would not be able to enjoy the Ovi Store on their devices. US carriers sell their own applications through their devices and it looks like the Ovi Store may be a competitor they do not want to support. Maybe Nokia could work out a cost sharing deal with the carriers to get the store on these devices, but I don’t really think Nokia should have to do that. AT&T lets Apple have their App Store on the iPhone so they should let Nokia do the same.
I would think that carriers could promote the Ovi Store on Nokia devices and probably sell more devices and gain more subscribers willing to pay for unlimited data. I will be very disappointed if AT&T blocks the Ovi Store on the E71x and think this would be cheating consumers from the full Nokia experience they bought into.
While there are phone geeks like myself who load up and enjoy using a ton of 3rd party applications, the average consumer who goes into the AT&T store and picks up the E71x may care less about the Ovi Store so the device may still do very well. This may also discourage AT&T from supporting the Ovi Store.
If AT&T does block the Ovi Store, it will be disappointing to some of us, but remember you can still continue to download and install applications just like we have been doing for years so if you are happy now with the E71x experience then nothing changes for you when the Ovi Store launches. The Ovi Store gives you another, yet much more consolidated and simple, method for finding and purchasing applications.
9 Comments to Will AT&T block the Ovi Store on the E71x? Let’s be fair now AT&T
After thinking about this a bit more, a solution to this would be to purchase and download apps via an Ovi Store PC client. Users could then side load the apps using PC Suite. At that point, apps would just be .sis files right? The same thing can be done with iTunes… Nokia could do all sorts of things like that or have the Ovi Store be a web site one could view with the browser.
The thing is, would Nokia want to tick off the USA’s largest carrier only a few months after launching the E71x ?
MikeMay 16, 2009
If I purchase an unlock code for my e71x and unlock the smartphone, will that solve the problem? That is, will the Ovi Store work even if AT&T blocks it even if I unlock the phone?
Oh yeah, AT&T doesn’t block the BlackBerry App World either, right? Why should Nokia be treated any differently? Will AT&T block the Windows Mobile Marketplace too? Let’s hope there really is no issue here when the Ovi Store launches.
Brad, I am sure you could always side load, but it is so much more convenient to have the ability to browse and buy on your phone itself.
Tim B.May 18, 2009
One would think AT&T and Nokia would have ironed out some sort of agreement pertaining to the Ovi store when the decision was made to carry the E71x. That being said, when the Ovi store does launch in the U.S. if will have to the Music store open as well as apps, pim sync and NGage. Nokia has already killed Share and thats ok as long as they still offer Files (paid upload space). Nokia should let Nokia Maps go in the U.S. most people in the U.S. use Google maps that is free or already own stand alone GPS software.
GPS GuruMay 26, 2009
AT&T controls the sign on all AT&T phones includes Nokia but excludes Blackberry & Iphone. That means only AT&T signed app will be able to work on Nokia’s AT&T phones if the app use restricted APIs, That’s why there’s only one free app LifeInPocket can run on all AT&T’s phone. http://LifeInPocket.com
AT&T inced deal with Nokia which apparently given Nokia the same right as LifeInPockt to let Nokia certified app running on AT&T’s Nokia phone, otherwise it won’t make sense.
Comparing with Verizon, AT&T is much better in opening their network and phones though it not as good as we would like to see.
Verizon block everything, includes Blackberry GPS.
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Michael GilbertDecember 14, 2009
Will the Nokia E71x work as a standalone GPS Thanks
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May 16, 2009