Nokia apologises for hitches with new online store

Mobile phone maker Nokia apologised to customers Wednesday after shoppers at its new online store Ovi complained of slow download speeds and problems installing programmes onto their handsets.

The company on Tuesday launched its virtual Ovi Store, where users can download games, videos and other applications on their mobile phones. The store is available in five languages, including English, Spanish and Russian.

Many users have left comments on the Ovi Store blog, expressing their disappointment because the website was too slow and they could not install applications on their mobile phone.

"We have apologised to users on the blog and we encourage people to carry on giving us feedback as we develop the service better," Nokia spokesman Andrew Flowers told AFP.

"We have added server capacity to improve the speed of service," he added.

Flowers declined to comment whether Nokia had been unprepared for the heavy traffic on Ovi Store.

Nokia chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo has said the company plans to increase the amount of services offered for mobile phone users as it is seen as a way to stay ahead of aggressive new competitors such as Google, Apple and RIM, which makes the popular Blackberry handsets.

Ovi, which means "door" in Finnish, is seen as Nokia's attempt to compete with Apple, which launched its rival AppStore for iPhone users last July.

"In the first 24 hours of the Ovi Store opening we had registered users from 131 countries; this really speaks about the scale and reach of the Ovi Store," Flowers said.

He also said the number of Ovi Store compatible devices had been increased to more than 60 from around 50.

The global financial crisis has hit Nokia's earnings as consumers have cut back on buying handsets and it has launched massive cost and job cuts around the world.

Net profits at the Finnish company dropped 90 percent in the first quarter of 2009 to 122 million euros (160 million dollars).