Nokia Gives Carriers a Cut of App Store Sales 13
Robbie B writes "Nokia mobile users will be able to pay for apps from the Ovi App Store on their mobile phone bill. Nokia is working on billing relationships with mobile operators around the globe, according to the story. Nokia developers will subsequently have to share their spoils with mobile operators should consumers choose mobile phone billing over the credit card option. That aside, the terms and conditions of the app store look to be quite fair — more in the style of Apple and Android (no fees for each app or update uploaded) than the terms of Windows Mobile Marketplace or Blackberry App World."
I'd rather use a FreeRunner (Score:4, Interesting)
I think I'll stick to using my repositories for my OpenMoko [opkg.org] and opkg.org [opkg.org]. The software for the Freerunner has improved a lot recently (admittedly from a very low base).
When OM cancelled ("postponed") the GTA03 and laid off a number of clever, hard-working hackers I figured that it was the end of the company but despite my pessimism, the latest revision of the phone comes with the hardware fixes and the newest release of the operating system (OM2009) is shaping up to be pretty good.
A "cut?" Didn't Tony Soprano call it . . . (Score:4, Insightful)
A "taste?"
And in "The Godfather," they called it "a piece of the action."
My, how mobile manufacturers and service providers tend to adopt the behavior of TV gangsters!
Isn't that cute? I personally don't like to idea of hardware manufacturers and service providers getting too cosy with each other. It's too much of an opportunity for them to take the subscribers "for a ride."
Want to marry a cool Apple iPhone? Meet the ugly cousin, that comes along with the pre-nuptials deal, AT&T.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't like it either. Seems like if you make a good phone or offer good service, you should be able to sell it without cutting "exclusive" deals that limit customer choice.
Re: (Score:2)
Unfortunately, that's how it happens for most phones. You see, for a phone to be sold by a carrier (at the carrier's store, etc), it has to be "ce
Re: (Score:1)
I don't understand what you mean by that. Could you elaborate? Are you saying that carriers [e.g. AT&T] won't let you make use of the USB features?
Wow 3 comments in almost 2 hours (Score:3, Insightful)
How the mighty has fallen. Nokia, I have news for you. It is the software. Yours stink. Your OS is very difficult to develop for. You have many hardware models that developers will have to contend with. Keep on making great phones for the lower end. Most of your smart phones will fail to attract a serious number of developers.
Re: (Score:1)
I bought a Nokia N96 from China, because I was there at that the time. It turned out to be a waste of money. I'm quite certain that I got the real deal, too. I've read about the fakes, and even asked an official Nokia store, in another city. They said that the N-series phones don't have wifi.
Also, I'm pretty disappointed in the UI.
As if that isn't enough, the phone doesn't connect well with my Vista laptop anymore. It's silly. I think that it got it's problems when I upgraded the firmware, which really bugs
Re: (Score:1)
Yes, I did mean mainland China, and not Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan.
My friend & his friend showed me their phones, and they had wifi. I'd be surprised if they got it from outside of mainland China. Maybe they got an import or something like that.
I don't know how to flash my N96 with the HK model's product code. I don't know at all how to flash a device.
This is a net neutrality problem (Score:1)
What's to stop the carrier from then making sure the phone no longer has access to any app store that doesn't give the carrier a cut?
This kind of thing should be strongly discouraged as it greatly encourages discriminatory behavior by the carriers.
Ovi will cost devs $100's per app to upload! (Score:1)
"(no fees for each app or update uploaded)" - not so as far as I know.
Ovi is requiring each app be "Java Verified" ( http://www.javaverified.com/ [javaverified.com] ), which requires third party testing on each 'class' of phone at a cost to the developer of around $150. So if you wanted to cover all Nokia's models it will cost you more than $1000 per app to get it certified as 'uploadable' (I cannot figure out exactly how many 'classes' / 'lead devices' there are). Any change or update to the app requires re certification.
You