The company is also highlighting its online tool called the Ovi App Wizard. In just a few simple steps, the Wizard takes online content including RSS and Atom feeds for video, audio, text and images for blogs, YouTube, Twitter and news, and on its own formats the content into an WRT or Java application that delivers fresh content to a Nokia device every time the feed is updated. Apps created with the Ovi App Wizard work on nearly every device that supports Ovi Store. The apps can even be monetized by enabling an optional advertising feature in the tool. And in an excellent move for the Middle East, the Wizard has become available in Arabic with right to left orientation.
Another significant development on the horizon is operator billing. Hatem Nawar, developer relations manager, Forum Nokia, stated that Nokia is currently working with multiple telecom operators in the Middle East and is expecting operator billing to come soon to the region, including Saudi Arabia. Currently, Ovi Store purchases must be made by credit card, with the net revenue split at 30 percent for Nokia and 70 percent for the publishers. Nawar pointed out that this is higher or equal to all the application stores.
But the penetration of credit cards is limited in the Middle East and very few young mobile consumers are able to charge to plastic. That’s why operator billing is important. In the past, the revenue to publishers from telecom operator billing was variable. Operators in some countries took high percentages of the revenue which made publishers unwilling to make content available through such a channel. Now, Nokia has fixed the revenue split at 60 percent for the publishers and 40 percent for Nokia. Nawar said that Nokia will absorb any extra charges from the operator side. The expectation is that operator billing will greatly increase the ability of Middle Eastern consumers to purchase mobile apps, resulting in growth in publishers’ revenues and consequently more individuals and companies wanting to create mobile apps for the Ovi store. It’s a winning scenario all around.
