Finnish handset manufacturer, Nokia Corporation (NOK), has teamed up with Zinio, a privately owned digital publishing house, to launch a wide array of e-reading services for its Lumia handset users.
Nokia’s new Windows 8 platform supports nearly 100,000 applications. So, teaming up with e-books and magazine distributor Zinio, will further enhance its service portfolio.
At present, Zinio’s e-book service is available on Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iOS-based iPhones, Google Inc.’s (GOOG) Android-based Kindle Fire, Research in Motion Limited’s (BBRY) PlayBook tablets and Windows 8 tablets.
Zinio will offer exclusive digital reading services like Reading List and Background downloading features for the Lumia users. One of the important features of these new applications is that the selected news articles will be downloaded even if the user is not connected to the network.
Moreover, it will also offer better text clarity for Lumia handset users. Furthermore, the Reading Lists feature will get automatically updated with new articles and magazines, offering complete ease of reading on smartphones.
Recently, Nokia also launched Transportation application for its low-cost Asha smartphones. The new app will help users with different routes and directions and transportation systems. The new apps can be accessed without a network connection.
In the recent past, the Finnish handset maker was one of the leading mobile phone manufacturers in the world. However, with the advent of Apple’s iPhones and Android-based devices, the popularity of Nokia phones started to decline.
In the last quarter, Nokia shipped 6.6 million Smartphones (including 4.4 million Lumia handsets). So, to boost its smartphone sales as well as to compete against more than 700,000 apps of Android and Apple’s iOS operating system, the company is collaborating with different service providers.
Going forward, it is to be seen whether Nokia will be able to revamp its handset business by launching new mobile phones as well as by expanding its apps.
Nokia currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
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