Nokia's Ovi Life Tools launched in China

Nokia recently launched  Ovi Life Tools  in China, designed for the emerging markets and will offer a wide range of information services covering healthcare, agriculture, education and entertainment. The service is mainly aimed at addressing the needs of rural consumers with the vision to provide livelihood and life-impacting benefits to improve their economic prosperity and quality of life. In order to support the new service for China’s rural consumers, two affordable and easy-to-use mobile phones, the Nokia 1616 and the Nokia 1800 were introduced.

"While China's urbanization is growing rapidly, we believe there is a compelling need to provide mobile solutions in emerging markets bringing affordable, quality, and locally relevant information direct to the consumer," said Chris Leong, Senior Vice President, Greater China, Korea & Japan.

According to the statement which quotes Sun Xiaoming, Deputy Director of China Rural Technology Development Center of China's Ministry of Science and Technology, there are almost 732 million rural residents in China representing almost 55 percent of the total population.

"Nokia's Ovi Life Tools is an example of how a private company can provide innovative solutions which are relevant, affordable and beneficial to the larger population, and this effectively complements the Government's effort to bridge the technology and information gap currently faced. Mobile phones are widely used by people in rural areas; for many, it is their primary source of information. I would like to congratulate Nokia for developing a unique and innovative service that has tremendous potential to improve lives and the livelihood of farmers and sub-urban consumers," Ms Sun said.

Nokia announced through the statement that Ovi Life Tools will be available across China on the Nokia 1616 and the Nokia 1800, and promised availability of the services on more devices in the future. The SMS-based service will be in simplified Chinese, and features four categories: healthcare, agriculture, education and entertainment. Availability of the service will be through subscription or on demand where consumers can activate the service from an icon on the menu of the device and can choose any one of four selected services to enjoy a 2-week free trial use. Beside the free service, users can also subscribe to the other premium content offered in the menu.

Source: www.nokia.com.