Nokia Rebrands Ovi To Nokia Services

NokiaI am not sure how exactly to put this, but Nokia in my opinion is finally burning all boats to head forward in the right direction. Be it partnering with Microsoft to bring Windows Phone 7 powered devices or the much hyped riddance of Nokia from its legacy of the Symbian operating system. The company yesterday announced it is going to rebrand its Ovi Store to Nokia services. The transition is expected to initiate mid July this year and will continue to early 2012.

The service is expected to arrive on the upcoming Nokia devices in the July and August period, meaning that the transition is only meant for existing devices. I am not sure how this is made possible, but Nokia promises to ensure the transition is smooth and occurs without disrupting services to its consumers. I am sure they have things sorted out, but why wasn’t this planned initially when they launched the Store, maps, etc? I would like to quote Jerri DeVard, Nokia’s EVP and Chief Marketing Officer on his reason for this transition:

The reasons for this decision includes the fact that Nokia is a well-known and highly-loved brand the world over. Our mobile experiences are tightly integrated with our devices – there is no longer a differentiation.

Why was the disparity created in the first place? I totally understand that it’s just a change of name, but again why didn’t they go with Nokia from day one? Was Ovi an experiment under practice for a few years? Or better still is Nokia finally letting go off whatever it has experience in the last few years and start anew in 2012? Too much to ask and quite a lot to expect, I look forward to the year ahead anticipating from the brand what it had delivered in the pre-iPhone, Android Arena.

To sum it up, I opine that unifying the brand under one name is a welcome move. Think of it, Nokia, Ovi, Symbian, MeeGo and Windows Phone 7 all being a part of Nokia, one less name to associate makes the Nokia experience less confusing if not fabulous.