In the wake of dropping the Nokia brand name from Lumia cell phones, Microsoft now plans to close down Nokia Store for its non-Windows Phone devices — Series 40, Series 60, Symbian, Asha and Nokia X. The clients of these phones will be redirected to Opera Mobile Store once the agreement is completed.
The movement is expected to be finished by June 2015, after which Nokia Store for feature phones (and select smart phones) will close down.
While, Nokia Lumia cell phones feature the Windows Store for application downloads, other Nokia phones, for example, Asha and Nokia X feature Nokia Store for applications. These devices will be redirected to the Opera Mobile Store automatically.
As indicated by the official announcement, this implies that the users will “have a new trusted source for tens of thousands of apps for their Nokia phone.”
Once the Nokia Store for cell phones closes down, Opera Mobile Store will turn into the third-biggest application store universally as far as downloads, asserted the organization. Opera Mobile Store at present boasts 300,000 applications and games and supports in excess of 7,500 devices.
Announcing the tie up with Opera, Microsoft vice president Rich Bernardo said, “We’re delighted to partner with Opera Software and continue to provide a reliable app store experience for consumers and developers alike.”
Lars Boilesen, CEO of Opera Software said, “When the current users of the Nokia Store are migrated to Opera Mobile Store, they will continue to get fresh, interesting apps for their Nokia phones. The Opera Mobile Store becomes an even more significant player in the app store market, and Nokia mobile phone users get a first-class app store for years to come.”
This is the second partnership for both Opera and Microsoft. Earlier during the year, software giant announced that Opera mini browser will become the default browser on Nokia-branded phones, including Series 30+, Series 40, Asha and Nokia X handsets.
