Nokia’s Mail on Ovi public beta goes ‘live’ around the world

Mail on Ovi, the free email account from Nokia, is now ‘live’ and can be set up directly on Nokia phones without requiring a PC to get started. People who use Nokia Series 40 devices can create their own email address directly on their mobile phones. The Ovi email account gives a person all the features and functionalities of a typical PC-based email account. During the Beta period, consumers will be able to choose from 12 languages based on the settings of their device, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Hindi, Bengali, Tagalog, Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia.

“We’re creating a mindset shift with mobile messaging. Mail on Ovi is the first-ever email service which allows people to create an account directly on their mobile phone, and start using it right away” said Senior Vice President Tom Furlong, who oversees Consumer Messaging initiatives within Nokia’s Services & Software organization. “Rather than focusing purely on push email for the world’s most advanced mobile users, we are mobilizing email across Nokia’s mainstream device portfolio, while giving consumers in emerging markets their first email account, Mail on Ovi, as well as their very own internet identity. These people are the new ‘mobile digital natives’ who will exclusively use their mobile phones for email and internet, rather than a PC.”

Mobile phone users from India, Malaysia and the Philippines have been able to use the Beta service since November, with extremely encouraging results, and the availablity is now being extended to the rest of the world.*

Nokia has launched more than 35 Nokia Series 40 device models which immediately enable the creation of the Mail on Ovi email account**. As of October 2008, Nokia has shipped more than 110 million of such devices globally.

* Certain countries may not yet be supported during the Beta period

** Devices that enable Mail on Ovi include:

Nokia 1680 classic, Nokia 168Oi

Nokia 2320, Nokia 2323, Nokia 2330, Nokia 2600, Nokia 2600 classic, Nokia 2630, Nokia 2680 slide, Nokia 2760

Nokia 3210, Nokia 3555, Nokia 3600 slide, Nokia 3610 fold

Nokia 5000, Nokia 5130 XpressMusic, Nokia 5220 XpressMusic, Nokia 5310 XpressMusic, Nokia 5610 XpressMusic

Nokia 6267, Nokia 6300i, Nokia 6301, Nokia 6260, Nokia 6500 classic, Nokia 6500 slide, Nokia 6555, Nokia 6600 fold, Nokia 6600 slide

Nokia 7100 Supernova, Nokia 7210 Supernova, Nokia 7310, Nokia 7500 Prism, Nokia 7610 Supernova, Nokia 7900 Crystal Prism

Nokia 8800 Arte, Nokia 8800 Sapphire