Serena Glover On The Future of Ovi
Serena Glover is what I would consider a very lucky woman. Not only did she co-found Twango, which is now known as Share on Ovi, but she’s also stayed on after Nokia acquired her company. Glover is now serving as Nokia’s Director of Entertainment and Communications, heading up Share on Ovi. She’ll also have her hands in future Ovi services, including music, games, maps, etc. MocoNews.net recently had the chance to sit down with Serena and ask her about the future of Ovi and what Nokia envisions.
The best part of the interview, in my opinion, is where she tells how Nokia plans to make money with it. Basically, as is possible with Share on Ovi right now, the goal is to keep it open to anyone - regardless of their handset. However, the service will be fully integrated and deliver the best experience when used on a Nokia handset.
She also talked about how Ovi plans to tie into the browser more, for a client-less experience. This means that Nokia can offer a more robust experience, without being limited to consumers that know how to install a program on their phones, or even know where to find the app, first.
What Ovi features are you using, and what do you think the future of Ovi looks like? Bright or cloudy?
They’ve reached a critical time. Share on Ovi seems to be the only service using the Ovi name, and so most people think that “Ovi” is “Share on Ovi”. Now, Share on Ovi / Twango isn’t actually all that good, when you compare it with, say, Flickr. So when they try to push other products under the Ovi umbrella, people are going to associate the name with a second-rate photo sharing site.