"Only Nokia billing is accepted"

[MrAlt]

Hi everyone!

We are considering the possibility of developping an application with downloadable additional contents. These contents would be bought by the user.

We have seen in the publisher guide that "Only Nokia billing is accepted. If the content contains any other external billing solution it will be rejected."

So our questions are:
- Is it applicable for extra contents? The application bought on OVI store will be usable with default content. To be clear, let's take a simple example. If we delvelop a music platform, do we have to pass through Nokia billing for selling songs? Other example: An application displaying recipes, do we have to pass through Nokia billing for selling recipes?

- Is it acceptable to make the user buy these new contents on our web site instead of directly in the application?

- If both previous systems are not possible, we assume that all extra contents must pass through OVI store. As a consequence, is it possible to sell an important number of small extra contents on the store? As the content won't pass through our app, is it possible to decide where the downloaded file will be stored on the phone?

[petrib]

Ovi Store does not support purchasing of "in-app" content. Any additional content for your app, would have to be separate Ovi Store content items downloaded and sold separately via Ovi Store via the billing mechanisms/channels that Ovi Store provides.

It is probably also, at least with the current Ovi Store, to associate individual content items on Ovi Store with a prerequisite application that the user must acquire first (whether free or commercial).

In other words, creating a music app and selling individual music tracks just for your music app on Ovi Store is not possible (replace "music app" with any other app and "music tracks" with whatever content your app consumes - recipes, ebooks, audiobooks, videos, additional game levels, etc. -, it will not be a model that works with Ovi Store today.

[oviJude]

Dear publisher,
Thanks for your request. Here are the answers for your questions:

- Is it applicable for extra contents? The application bought on OVI store will be usable with default content. To be clear, let's take a simple example. If we delvelop a music platform, do we have to pass through Nokia billing for selling songs? Other example: An application displaying recipes, do we have to pass through Nokia billing for selling recipes?
Support: Yes all contents including the extension, components have to be distributed through OVI store. If it's a map application, all region maps have to pass through OVI billing. Same for songs and recipes.

- Is it acceptable to make the user buy these new contents on our web site instead of directly in the application?
Support: No it is not acceptable.

- If both previous systems are not possible, we assume that all extra contents must pass through OVI store. As a consequence, is it possible to sell an important number of small extra contents on the store? As the content won't pass through our app, is it possible to decide where the downloaded file will be stored on the phone?
Support: It is possible to sell small extra components for the application through OVI. But all the details should be mentioned in the description of these small little pieces of software that it is just an extension. In the description, you have to mention what application needed to be pre-installed. In terms of location of the file, Nokia is unable to reveal the location of the download file. However, there is a way for developer to pack the component as an executable so that download it will initiate the installation which puts the extension file in its correct location.

Hope it helps.
Regards,
oviJude
OVI publisher support