CES 2010: AT&T Nokia devices finally get the Ovi Store along with carrier billing
I’ve had issues with the Nokia Ovi Store in the past, but now use it to find apps and download to my devices. I still think there is work to do to make it even better and today’s announcement may help with this. Nokia announced that AT&T customers can now get the Ovi Store on their devices and have billing handled by AT&T through your carrier bill rather than through a credit card. I personally like having Ovi Store purchases made via a credit card that I control and am not too keen on carrier billing. However, I can see where this may lead to more purchases since it is a seamless experience where the buyer doesn’t have to interact with a payment system.
When the E71x was launched we heard that the Ovi Store would be coming to it before the end of 2009, so they are not too far off from that target here on 6 January. The Ovi Store and carrier billing is supported for the Nokia E71x, Nokia Surge, Nokia Mural, Nokia 6650, Nokia 6555 and Nokia 6350. The press release states that more devices are coming too so that is good news and imagine the E72 may be one of those.
If you have one of these devices, go to your web browser and follow these steps: - Step one: go to store.ovi.com from your Nokia device from AT&T
Step two: once at store.ovi.com you will be prompted to download the Ovi Store application
Step three: enjoy great content and applications for your Nokia device with AT&T.
Any readers prefer carrier billing for application stores?
9 Comments to CES 2010: AT&T Nokia devices finally get the Ovi Store along with carrier billing
I would definitely prefer credit card or Paypal payment. This article was interesting though. I purchased the Gravity app two weeks ago from my E71x and it billed my AT&T account.
catkeeprJanuary 6, 2010
Not so fast there Mr. Miller. I followed the instructions on my Nokia E71x and downloaded and installed the Ovi Store successfully, however, I cannot locate it anywhere on the phone.
Not ready for prime time yet?
RickJanuary 6, 2010
catkeeper, You can go to getjar.com and get the correct ovi store app.
MigzJanuary 7, 2010
getjar.com worked. Thanks Rick!
JoeJanuary 7, 2010
getjar.com worked, but catkeepr has a point. This isn’t ready for prime time just yet. I noticed the e71x app when I went to the ovi store about a month ago, but I had the same experience as capkeepr. I downloaded version 508 from store.ovi.com, and I got version 436 (the version that worked) from getjar.com. I have to wonder if this is Nokia’s doing or AT&T.
January 11, 2010
[...] AT&T Gets Ovi [...]
[...] AT&T Gets Ovi [...]
Brad B.January 31, 2010
Does anyone know how to disable this? It’s driving me nuts. I have never asked to use carrier billing, and, on a fresh install of v400 firmware for my E71-2, I installed Ovi Store. Now, whenever I go to buy a program, I am only given the option to purchase via carrier billing. I’m connected over WiFi and Ovi Store never once asked me for credit card information. I’ve tried the Store app and the web site via PC and simply can NOT enter credit card information.
This is a work phone so I don’t want to have to explain why a $5 charge is on the bill. I’d buy directly from the software company, but they want 15 dollars instead of 5 for some reason.
Brad B.January 31, 2010
If anyone else is having trouble with the Ovi Store App defaulting to carrier billing, I found a simple yet annoying solution: Remove your sim card and connect to the store over WiFi. Then, you’ll finally be able to enter billing information that is saved to your account.
I’m hoping this is an over sight and not something intentional that Nokia did. It would make sense if all Beta testers were simply using their old Ovi accounts that already had a credit card saved. If that’s the case, the folks testing the later builds of Ovi Store may not have encountered this?
January 6, 2010