Nokia kills Ovi Brand and Nokia Maps rumored to Power Bing Maps

Nokia today unveiled plans to stop using the Ovi brand for its services offering. Ovi never hit a chord with me. It is a good thing Nokia is cleaning this up and focuses all attention to the main brand. It can use some support, as Nokia struggles to keep up with Google and Apple.

Nokia’s EVP and Chief Marketing Officer, Jerri DeVard explains the shift:
“We have made the decision to change our service branding from Ovi to Nokia. By centralizing our services identity under one brand, not two, we will reinforce the powerful master brand of Nokia and unify our brand architecture – while continuing to deliver compelling opportunities and experiences for partners and consumers alike.”

The transition from Ovi to Nokia starts in July. It is supposed to finish end of next year. Nokia says that this is just a name change and the services roadmaps continue as planned. One of the strongest (maybe the only one) services from Nokia is maps. Nokia picked up navigation software maker Navteq back in 2007 for over $8 billion. SearchEngineLand reports that a source told them that Nokia is supposed to power the back end of Microsoft's Bing maps. Microsoft is supposed to throw their homegrown maps stuff away. Microsoft and Nokia made some official statements about Bing Maps and Nokia Maps integrations, but nothing concrete and certainly not as deep as the rumor indicates.

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