Nokia OVI

Ovi by Nokia is the brand for Nokia's Internet services. The Ovi services can be used from a mobile device, computer (through Nokia Ovi Suite) or via the web (Ovi.com).

Nokia focuses on five key services areas: Games, Maps, Media, Messaging and Music. Nokia's aim with Ovi is to include 3rd parties, such as operators and third-party services like Yahoo's Flickr photo site. With the announcement of Ovi Maps Player API, Nokia has started to evolve their services into a platform, enabling third-parties to make use of Nokia's Ovi services.

It has some significance in that Nokia is moving deeper into the world of Internet services, where head-on competition with Microsoft, Google and Apple is inevitable.

Ovi was announced on August 29, 2007 at the Go Play event in London. The word "ovi" means "door" in Finnish. On December 4, a more ambitious plan was announced with more details about when public beta desktop software would be offered. The public beta was released August 28, 2008.

Nokia over time has acquired key building blocks for Ovi. This includes IP, patents and core components such as synchronization. Acquired IP, patents include companies such as Starfish Software, Intellisync, NAVTEQ, Gate5, Plazes and others. Other components have been developed internally.

In May 20 2009 at the Where 2.0 event in San Jose, CA, USA Nokia announced the release of the Ovi Maps Player API, allowing web developers to embed Ovi Maps into a website using JavaScript.