Nokia’s stab at the on-device software store game, the Ovi Store, will apparently not be launching with a carrier billing model as originally planned, at least in the U.S. Elsewhere in the world, like Australia, Britain, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Singapore, and Spain, would still be able to buy their apps and have the charge forwarded to their wireless operator bill. RIM has recently released the BlackBerry App World and had PayPal as the sole payment channel, but I’m sure like RIM, Nokia plans on integrating new options as quickly as possible, especially for the U.S., where their market share is still negligible. Still, this is a downer for those who were really looking forward to all of the bells and whistles, but the biggest differentiator will be the social aspect of the Ovi Store. It will keep an eye on what you and your friends are downloading, as well as where you are and make pertinent suggestions. Mosh and WidSets have already been subsumed by the Ovi Store in preparation for the launch next month, and even without carrier billing in the U.S., it promises to be pretty awesome.
[via Reuters]