Nokia launches Ovi e-mail to public

Nokia Corp. launched its Ovi-branded mobile e-mail service, allowing users with Series 40 devices to set up e-mail accounts directly from their phones.
Mail on Ovi is available in 12 languages and offers e-mail address based on users’ mobile phone numbers. The offering had been available in beta since November to users in India, Malaysia and the Philippines and is supported by three dozen Series 40 device models.
The wireless e-mail service is designed to create stickiness between consumers and Ovi, an umbrella brand that includes mobile social networking communities, games, full-track downloads and navigational services.
“We’re creating a mindset shift with mobile messaging,” Nokia SVP Tom Furlong said in a prepared statement. “Rather than focusing purely on push e-mail for the world’s most advanced mobile users, we are mobilizing e-mail across Nokia’s mainstream device portfolio, while giving consumers in emerging markets their first e-mail account.”
Nokia also announced to deal to spin its security appliance business off to Check Point Software Technologies for an undisclosed sum. That move follows September’s move that saw Nokia ditch Intellisync, a corporate mobile e-mail solution, to focus on more consumer-targeted offerings.