The Ovi name has appeared on a range of the Finnish phone firm's services, including its Maps apps and its app store, but dropping it might only cause as much confusion as its inception. Nokia might be a Finnish company, but that does not mean that the rest of the world needs to know the Finnish language term for 'door store'.
"Starting with first services on some of the new Nokia devices in July and August, Ovi services will be rebranded as Nokia services in a transition expected to continue into 2012," said the company in a blog post. "Each of the services under the Ovi umbrella will simply be rebranded as Nokia, with no planned disruption to the service roadmaps." Phew.
According to Nokia's chief marketing officer Jerri DeVard, the change is intended to unify the Nokia brand.
"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."
Suggestions that the name change came from Redmond executives confused by the word and its relation to the company are possibly unfounded.
"The reasons for this decision includes the fact that Nokia is a well-known and highly-loved brand the world over," explained DeVard. "Our mobile experiences are tightly integrated with our devices - there is no longer a differentiation. For example, if consumers want the best mobile navigation experience, they know it's a Nokia that they can rely on."
