Nokia has announced that it is rebranding all of its Ovi online services. The company has said that its Ovi services will be rebranded as Nokia services as part of a transition that will continue through into 2012. New devices sold from July and August onwards will start to show the new branding, while existing devices will being receiving software updates to reflect the change.
“We have made the decision to change our service branding from Ovi to Nokia. By centralizing our services identity under one brand, not two, we will reinforce the powerful master brand of Nokia and unify our brand architecture – while continuing to deliver compelling opportunities and experiences for partners and consumers alike,” said Nokia’s EVP and Chief Marketing Officer, Jerri DeVard.
While the company does not plan any changes to the service road map, a Nokia spokesperson adds in a conversation thread that, “The Ovi Mail service was just recently moved to Yahoo! hosting, and we’ll continue operating it in the same way also after rebranding. So no change there.”
“Ovi email account users will continue to be able to receive the email they get, sent to the Ovi Mail address. Plans about where Ovi Mail users will migrate to will be shared in the near future.”
The changes are likely a direct result of Nokia’s transition from Symbian as its primary OS to Windows Phone 7 with its own service ecosystem. While elements of the new named Nokia services will remain, it is conceivable that these will become part of the wider Windows Phone 7 ecosystem, and thus available to all users of Windows Phone 7, regardless of which manufacturer they choose for their handset.
