Nokia has partnered with social networking site, Facebook to launch an application called lifecasting with Ovi which allows people to publish their location and status updates directly to their Facebook account from the home screen of a mobile device. The company claimed that Lifecasting triggers new kinds of communication patterns, such as sending messages or status updates or even navigating to a friend or a place.
Lifecasting will be launched on the new Nokia N97 mini. The Nokia N97 mini is a smaller mobile computer featuring a tilting 3.2 touch display, QWERTY keyboard and a customisable homescreen.
Lifecasting with Ovi will be available for both the Nokia N97 and Nokia N97 mini via Nokia Beta Labs, said Nokia. The Nokia N97 mini features new software which will be released in October as a free update. The new software includes new homescreen widgets and additional usability improvements such as flick scrolling.
The company said that Nokia N97 mini is also powered by a new Ovi Maps experience which makes searching, finding and navigating easier. Users can personalise the homescreen of their device even further with different applications and services available from the Ovi Store. The Nokia N97 mini is expected to begin shipping in October for an estimated retail price of €450.
Jonas Geust, vice president of Nokia Nseries, said: People want to bring their physical and online worlds together via the internet. The Nokia N97 mini is designed for this new social internet and to help navigate people and places. With lifecasting, the Nokia N97 mini and Ovi usher in the next chapter of personal and location-aware internet.
