Comments on: Nokia Ovi – 25 Mistakes

By: App store turns one… | my nonlinear

App store turns one… | my nonlinear — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:45:47 +0000

[...] Android is trying to get its foot in the door and Nokia has launched an Ovi Store (read the great breakdown here from Terence Eden’s Blog) in response, smaller features but does have recommendations from friends, so hopefully Apple [...]

By: Gossip: One year of The App Store - Apps & Hats

Gossip: One year of The App Store - Apps & Hats — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:43:28 +0000

[...] to get its foot in the door and Nokia has launched an Ovi Store (read the great breakdown here from Terence Eden’s Blog) in response, smaller features but does have recommendations from friends, so hopefully [...]

By: Ly Technology » Nokia’s Ovi Store fails its first-day stress test

Ly Technology » Nokia’s Ovi Store fails its first-day stress test — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 01:02:43 +0000

[...] [Image from Terence Eden's Blog] [...]

By: Nokia’s app store launch misfires | CompareMobiles.com

Nokia’s app store launch misfires | CompareMobiles.com — Thu, 28 May 2009 12:55:30 +0000

[...] which led him back to where he started, a blank page. It prompted him to write a blog post listing 25 mistakes that Nokia made with the Ovi store launch. [...]

By: Nokia’s app store stumble | SupaFeed

Nokia’s app store stumble | SupaFeed — Wed, 27 May 2009 22:21:37 +0000

[...] which led him back to where he started, a blank page. It prompted him to write a blog post listing 25 mistakes that Nokia made with the Ovi store launch. [...]

By: Neil

Neil — Wed, 27 May 2009 07:03:13 +0000

I don’t understand the comments “this isn’t fair because…”. Nokia has created this portal and wants the poor user to part with their cash using it. If third party content makes it look crummy then don’t show it!

Making an app store which looks good and works well is a matter of quality control. Just be bold enough to not release it until it’s ready. It sounds like nokia dropped the ball and released to their poor users too early.

Sure real artists ship, but real artists don’t ship crap.

By: John Evans

John Evans — Wed, 27 May 2009 05:39:47 +0000

I belive people in the Netherlands can actually speak many languages, same for other countries that use the store. Actually there is an option for reviews in ‘ones languages’ right next to the reviews but by default is multi-lingual which given it’s truly global nature is exactly right.

I am also suprised the content is not editorialy controled for launch though.

I have to point out my ovi/Nokia credentials got me into the store just fine. I was also impressed by the signup page.

I have a feeling that blank page you saw was perhaps a load issue. I might be wrong though. It would be rather stupid of them to mess that up.

Overall I feel the store isn’t so bad. However I have yet to really try it out.

Disclaimer: I work for Nokia.

By: Nokia’s Ovi Store fails its first-day stress test | All about MICROSOFT

Nokia’s Ovi Store fails its first-day stress test | All about MICROSOFT — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:09:27 +0000

[...] [Image from Terence Eden's Blog] [...]

By: HD Boy

HD Boy — Wed, 27 May 2009 02:31:49 +0000

“…Sorry my comment was so negative but if you are going to write a post on a new service. Dont try to point out as many bad things as you can see, point out the real issues and filter out the parts that have nothing to do with the actuall service…”

Hey, the overall user experience IS part of the actual service! This very real issue is what all these wanna’ be software companies with copycat iPhone App Stores don’t get. It also is why duplicating Apple’s success will be difficult to attain. Besides, Nokia, RIM and the others all have too many different phone models with too many different screen sizes to deliver an elegant user experience. Developers will suffer. Customers will suffer. And Nokia will have to get used to these negative reviews.

By: Nokia’s Ovi Store fails its first-day stress test |

Nokia’s Ovi Store fails its first-day stress test | — Wed, 27 May 2009 00:59:40 +0000

[...] [Image from Terence Eden's Blog] [...]

By: Nokia’s Ovi Store fails its first-day stress test » VentureBeat

Nokia’s Ovi Store fails its first-day stress test » VentureBeat — Wed, 27 May 2009 00:23:26 +0000

[...] from Terence Eden’s Blog] Digg this story! [...]

By: Nokia’s app store stumble | The Latest Headlines

Nokia’s app store stumble | The Latest Headlines — Tue, 26 May 2009 21:23:53 +0000

[...] which led him back to where he started, a blank page. It prompted him to write a blog post listing 25 mistakes that Nokia made with the Ovi store launch. [...]

By: Terence Eden

Terence Eden — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:12:21 +0000

I think I’m of the mindset that their front page content should be editorialised – for now. They should also be setting standards for the third-party content.

As for international reviews – yes, it’s an international site, but they’re already detecting my language to provide the UI in English, why not the reviews? I don’t think the French should be banned from submitting reviews – but I doubt many people in UK, Germany, Netherlands etc. will be able to read and understand it.

You’re right to bring up Vodafone live (usual disclaimers – including that I don’t work for Vodafone UK). Although I was under the impression that branded phones came with the right soft key set to Contract WAP. Everyone in this space needs to make access easier for customers.

Thanks for the comments – they’re appreciated.

By: Nokia begins launching Ovi Store for apps » VentureBeat

Nokia begins launching Ovi Store for apps » VentureBeat — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:11:07 +0000

[...] Blogger Terence Eden took screenshots of problems he ran up against while trying to use the store. His conclusion: “Why do I get the feeling that there are several fiefdoms within Nokia all working against one and other rather than working together?” Eden has summarized his experiences in a second post: “Nokia Ovi – 25 Mistakes.” [...]

By: Terence Eden

Terence Eden — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:07:04 +0000

Very true about testing on other phones – although I was testing on the Nokia N95 8GB. Arguably one of their flagship devices.

I would have expected the front page to be editorially managed (especially while there’s so little content on there). Similarly for their content – if they have a relationship with Paramount (as opposed to a small developer) they should be setting boundaries for their high profile content. If Apple can reject apps which have poor UI, Nokia can reject ringtones without ID3 tags.

I take your point about the numbering – I’m still getting the hang of the WordPress system.

Thanks for your comment.

By: twe4ked

twe4ked — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:26:11 +0000

Reasons your list fails.
- You only tried it on one phone, on my phone the store looks way better. I know that it should work perfectly on all nokia phones, but there are alot of supported phones and the service has only just come out.
- Their recommended page would be dynamiclly updated from what other users are downloading and as I stated in my first point they have only just launched the service so the list does not have much data to be generated from, I expect this list will get better over time.
- You talk about the descriptions not being good enough? Nokia did not write that description, the person that uploaded the file for you to download did. And I don’t see how much more descriptive you can get than ‘Star Trek Nokia futuristic ring tone’ – I think this might be a Star Trek ringtone?
- id3 tags as with the description are not up to Nokia to manually add. Paramount should have done it. But when it comes down to it. It was free.
- And my finall point, next time you write a list, either use numbers in a consecutive order so I know where I am up to, or write it in paragraph form with heading tags or at least bold headings so I can skim to the parts I want to read.

Sorry my comment was so negative but if you are going to write a post on a new service. Dont try to point out as many bad things as you can see, point out the real issues and filter out the parts that have nothing to do with the actuall service. Maybe even test it on another phone or search around for some screenshots to see if everyone has the same problem you do.

By: McPete

McPete — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:06:26 +0000

From reading these ‘mistakes’, there seems to be some which can be easily put aside as ‘not Nokias fault’…

Yes they have a responsibility, especially in the early days of a content download site such as this, to make sure that a certain level of babysitting is undertaken for the early content providers. However that being said, it is still content being listed by a 3rd party.

As for the user review being in another language, it is an international site – would be difficult to forbid the french from reviewing downloads without it sounding a bit anti-french :)

I agree it is messy, but 25 faults is a bit harsh when a good 8-9 of them are most likely down to the 3rd party.

BTW I am also quite pleased that they don’t have downloadable content with 5-star ratings yet – this shows that the content is being rated by the users themselves, and is not being unfairly rigged by Nokia / Ovi / the 3rd party in question.

I would also not hesitate to make comment on a pot calling kettle situation here – Vodafone Live! is for all intents and purposes unusable. Example: high end Nokias like the N95 8GB come with ‘Mobile Internet’ as their default connection method. Unfortunately you cannot access Vodafone Live! through this method, which means that by default all customers with mobile internet as their default connection method cannot use their operator portal…nice.