Nokia unveils online software store

Nokia has unveiled its new online software and media store, hoping to give a fight to Apple's App Store.

The focus of the cell phone market has been shifting to software development since Google and Apple entered the mobile market in the past two years.

Nokia unveiled the store at a developer conference on the sidelines of Mobile World Congress at Barcelona.

Nokia said it would open the online “Ovi” store in nine countries in May. It said 70 percent of revenues from the store would go to software developers, and its first model to ship with access to the store would be its new flagship phone N97.

Nokia’s partners for the online software store included, among others, social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.

Apple's App Store has proved to be popular with iPhone users, and helped spawn an entire industry of entrepreneurs who design the programs which can then be downloaded by consumers.

Microsoft Corp is also planning an "online bazaar" for applications running on its Windows Mobile operating system.

Blackberry-maker Research In Motion ha announced last year it plans to launch its app store early this year.

Also at the fair, telecom operator Orange said it will launch a similar online store from May across Europe.

At its news conference Nokia also launched two smartphone models, the E75 and E55, along with two GPS navigation phones.

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