Nokia announce a range of new apps coming soon

Today Nokia have announced a variety of new apps and games that will be coming to the Windows Phone platform. They have been working closely with developers to get more big name apps into the Windows Phone Marketplace.

This latest announcement has a few interesting new apps. Unsurprisingly Angry Birds Space is on the list, which was released a while ago on iOS and Android, much confusion surrounded the Windows Phone version at the time. Apparently now “Windows Phone and Lumia are of strategic importance to Rovio”.

Paypal is on the list which will be welcome, I sell quite a bit of stuff on Ebay and being able to keep track of my Paypal will be great.

Another interesting app on the list is Box. Not Dropbox, Box. It is a cloud storage app that tends to give away large amounts of storage with new devices. I got 50gb when I bought a HP Touchpad and Xperia Play owners got a similar deal. It will be good to use a different cloud storage from Skydrive, although Box does not have a desktop client.

Groupon is also mentioned, which is a hugely popular voucher website, lots of people will be pleased with this.

Some of these apps will be Lumia specific which continues the trend of previous apps from Nokia. I am on the fence really whether or not Nokia are strengthening their own brand by doing this or whether they are damaging the whole Windows Phone platform by doing this. Yes people will be more inclined to get a Nokia Lumia device. But are Nokia going to put off other manufacturers from making Windows Phone devices? Only time will tell.

So here is the official announcement from them. Please let us know your thoughts on more Nokia specific apps.

Unique and exclusive app experiences launching across key consumer verticals

New Orleans, US – Nokia announced a number of new and exclusive application partnerships at CTIA Wireless 2012, continuing its focus on delivering differentiated and original app experiences to Nokia Lumia consumers around the world.

“We are focused on delivering great, locally relevant apps, and importantly, those which offer unique, exclusive and original experiences,” said Marco Argenti, SVP, Nokia Developer Experience. “With Nokia Lumia smartphones now available in 48 markets, developers are rapidly recognizing the business opportunities and creating their best work for our consumers.”

With more than 80,000 apps now available in Windows Phone Marketplace, search and discovery features such as ‘App Highlights’ and ‘Nokia Collection’ curate the best, most relevant apps for Nokia Lumia consumers.

“Nokia has achieved much in a short space of time when it comes to key brands and partners creating apps for Nokia Lumia customers. We believe developers are now moving away from simply porting, to create new innovative and high-design apps that fully leverage the Windows Phone Metro UI and features such as live tiles. With new and exclusive apps launching on a regular basis, and Nokia Lumia rapidly expanding into new markets, Nokia and Microsoft are demonstrating meaningful differentiation for consumers, developers, operators and retailers,” said Crawford Del Prete, EVP, Chief Research Officer, IDC.

New partnerships and app updates across key consumer verticals include:

SPORT:

The PGA Tour app – exclusive to Nokia Lumia for 12 months from launch
The PGA TOUR is pleased to announce the launch of a new mobile app to provide fans with live, enhanced coverage of PGA TOUR events on the Windows Mobile platform. Developed with Nokia, the app will be available exclusively on Nokia Lumia smartphones beginning in late June 2012. The new app provides fans with a groundbreaking way to follow PGA TOUR tournaments. In addition to live tournament scoring, highlights and player information, the app provides interactive, augmented coverage of select events and holes, showing each player’s exact position and scoring information. This allows fans to “get inside the ropes” and follow all players competing on the PGA TOUR.

“We are excited to work with Nokia to provide this app for the PGA TOUR,” said Scott Gutterman, Executive Producer, PGA TOUR Digital. “We are committed to providing the highest level of live PGA TOUR coverage, and this app will better inform and entertain PGA TOUR fans.”

The Nokia app adds to the PGA TOUR’s portfolio of mobile products. The PGA TOUR averages over 1 million monthly mobile users across all platforms.

ESPN – exclusive to Nokia Lumia until May 2013
The exclusive ESPN Hub will deliver a number of key updates in coming months, including sports scores on Live Tiles, team-level panoramas, personalization of scores, leagues and teams, and additional sports coverage such as Tennis, NASCAR and the 2012 Olympics. Additionally, a Windows Phone version of the ESPN Fantasy Football app will launch exclusively on Nokia Lumia smartphones this coming Fall.

GAMES:

Rovio – titles starting with Angry Birds Space join the original Angry Birds game in coming to Nokia Lumia and Windows Phone consumers
Rovio is building a dedicated design and development team to create games for Nokia Lumia smartphones and the wider Windows Phone ecosystem, with the goal of developing and publishing all future Rovio titles as soon as possible. Nokia and Rovio will partner to develop innovative new consumer products and content exclusively for Nokia Lumia smartphones, alongside cross platform multi-channel integrated marketing initiatives.

“Nokia is one of our longest-standing partners, and Windows Phone and Lumia are of strategic importance to Rovio. We are very committed to bring our games to Lumia devices, and are looking forward to delighting our fans on the Windows Phone platform,” said Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio.

EA – bringing leading game titles to Nokia Lumia and Windows Phone consumers
Electronic Arts (EA) will continue to deliver leading game titles to Nokia Lumia and Windows Phone consumers, including FIFA, Madden NFL, NBA Jam, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR®, Mirror’s Edge and Yahtzee. These games join titles such as Need for Speed(TM) Undercover, Need for Speed(TM) Hot Pursuit, The Sims(TM) 3, Spider Jack, and MONOPOLY which are already available in Windows Phone Marketplace.

LIFESTYLE:

Groupon – Exclusive to Nokia Lumia for 6 months from launch
Launching during Summer 2012, Groupon is currently working on an extensive upgrade of its Windows Phone app. The app will include a newly developed augmented reality deal discovery function to combine map and Points-of-Interest (POI) data with what is seen via the camera’s viewfinder, enabling users to see virtual Groupon deals, in real-time, nearby. The app will be exclusive to Nokia Lumia customers for 6 months.

Mihir Shah, VP of Mobile, Groupon, said: “Our new and exclusive Groupon app for Nokia Lumia customers combines the intuitive Windows Phone Metro UI with location-based data to deliver deals which are both personalized and location-relevant for users. We look forward to continuing to partner with Nokia to evolve and innovate our app experience further.”

Tripdots – Exclusive to Windows Phone customers for 3 months from launch
Tripdots helps vehicle owners optimize their driving behaviors while connecting with other vehicle owners and sharing driving efficiency achievements via social networks. The app lets users monitor the operation of their vehicles to enable cost savings through better understanding fuel economy. Everyone can participate in the MPG Leader Board game, and information is only sent to drivers after their trip is complete.

“Consumers are increasingly paying more attention to the eco friendliness and costs of operating their vehicles,” said David Fleck, President of Left Lane Network, Inc. “Tripdots provides a wealth of easy to understand information that helps users monitor the health of their vehicles while having fun. The Nokia Lumia Windows phones provide best in class experience with Tripdots and we are very happy to be working with Nokia to deliver the service worldwide.”

FINANCE:

PayPal app for Windows Phone
PayPal and Nokia will work together to bring PayPal’s secure, fast and easy payments capabilities to the Windows Phone platform and Nokia Lumia smartphones, globally. PayPal will leverage the power of Windows Phone Live Tiles to create a compelling user experience that provides users with the flexibility to pay on-the-go.

“We’re excited to work with Nokia and Microsoft to bring PayPal to Nokia users across the globe, and to continue to innovate the way our consumers shop and pay anytime, anywhere and in anyway,” said Hill Ferguson, Vice President of Mobile, PayPal.

ENTERTAINMENT:

AOL Entertainment Hub – exclusive to Nokia Lumia for 6 months
Available exclusively to Nokia Lumia users at launch, AOL is set to introduce the AOL Entertainment Hub, bringing together the best of AOL’s content to deliver an immersive and inter-connected experience on Windows Phone. Whether you want to listen to one of 55,000 radio stations via SHOUTcast, stream free music albums with AOL’s Listening Party or view Trailers and Movie listings, the AOL Entertainment Hub delivers everything you need.

“The live tiles on Nokia Lumia helped us create an awesome app that makes it easy to stay in the know on what’s happening in Film, TV, Radio, Concerts and Music right from your home screen,” said Sol Lipman, Director of Mobile First products at AOL.

NEWS:

Time Magazine app for Windows Phone
Bringing the world’s largest weekly circulation to mobile, TIME.com announces the forthcoming availability of TIME for Windows Phone. Utilizing the stunning Windows Phone UI, the app will enable users to view TIME.com content, receive breaking news alerts, watch rich media content including video and share stories via the Windows Phone People Hub, while delivering the latest news and stories to users first via Live Tiles.

Newsweek – The Daily Beast app for Windows Phone
For a smart, speedy take on the news from around the world, combined with the depth and investigative power of Newsweek magazine, we are pleased to announce the availability of Newsweek’s digital partner The Daily Beast on Windows Phone. The Daily Beast app delivers the latest content through Live Tiles and combines the unique style of The Daily Beast with the Windows Phone UI to deliver a stunning experience. For users who only have minutes to digest the latest news, the app also delivers The Cheat Sheet – your one stop must have reads from across the world – uniquely designed for Windows Phone.

“We’re thrilled with how The Daily Beast app looks and works on the new Nokia Lumia smartphones and excited to be partnering with them as part of our robust mobile strategy,” said Daniel Blackman, Chief Digital Officer, Newsweek & The Daily Beast

PRODUCTIVITY:

Box app for Windows Phone
The new Windows Phone app from Box, the company focused on providing workers with simple, secure sharing from anywhere, will be available to Nokia Lumia consumers this Summer. With support for nine languages, Box for Windows Phone will enable users across the globe to browse, search and share files from their account.

“We’re committed to powering secure collaboration and content sharing for today’s workers across all platforms and devices,” said Matthew Self, VP of Platform Engineering at Box. “We believe that Windows Phone will play a meaningful role in enhancing mobile productivity across businesses of all sizes, and we’re excited to work with Nokia to bring an unparalleled experience for both users and IT to its Lumia smartphones.”

Link – Nokia Press