I was at a loss a couple of weeks when I was searching high and low for music stores in one of the most dense place in the world. Yet, I couldn’t find what I was desperately looking for: Bruno Mars’ latest album. First of all, finding a music store among the shopping malls is an extremely difficult task. Next, the few that remain after the iTunes saga are too conservative in move to bring in albums in large quantity. The best that I could get was “it’s out of stock at the moment”. So, I turned to iTunes for help but its location specific feature had prevented me from making a purchase. Not willing to give up, I continued my hunt in the World Wide Web and then I found the Ovi (Finnish word for door) website, a place where Nokia users are familiar with.
Signing up to purchase songs is as easy as using the Nokia phones. Surprisingly, the price for each song is consistent for all, something which is no longer true in iTunes. The choices available, I must say, are just as astonishing. So far, all my desires have been met. I have spent nearly USD50 in the space of a week and I expect more to come till my thirst for entertainment in music is quenched. Downloading is simply a click away. No extra software download is required and hence, no troublesome upgrades to be monitored later. The songs are in MP3 format, which can be easily converted to other formats suitable for your playback, i.e. you don’t need tools like iTunes or Media Player. In the modern world with less and less music stores physically around us (I even have this idea of opening up an online music store myself, until the discovery of Ovi online music store), this is a real gem for music lovers.
The mobile phone giant, who has so far resisted the temptation of making phones on Android platform (eco-system created by search engine giant Google, in a bid to challenge Apple’s non-computer products), has something more than music to offer via its Ovi website. One can find applications (Symbian-based), online storage for contacts, events, photos and mails, map. According here, there are about 22 downloads per second (as of 28th Feb 2010). In some countries, Nokia has allowed its phones buyers unlimited songs downloads. There is no wonder this portal is so hot.
It’s still early if Nokia can emulate the success of Apple. At the moment, it seems to be providing special services to its fanbase or customers: Ovi may be a catch for new users but competition is tough with Windows 7 upcoming and Android expanding rapidly.
In any case, I still enjoy the Ovi’s music services available in this part of world. I am sure there are many others who find the local taste of Ovi unique and close to heart. So who really need iTunes here…
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