Nokia Ovi Life Tools: Geography Basics

As we in the U.S. ponder how to use LBS to sell more burgers and get people to polls, Nokia is selling phone services and LBS as “life tools.” Now, phones and Internet connections have always been a lifeline of sorts in rural areas, but their simple ability to bridge geography is still worth quite a lot. Nokia is pushing its agricultural services in rural Nigeria to help farmers make more on their crops by knowing the price at various markets. How’s the money?

For rural users:

In India farmers are willing to pay $1.35 a month for information such as text messages noting the current average wholesale price for 100 kilograms of tomatoes (600 rupees ($13.26)). That can mean choosing to go to market or stay home and wait for better prices.

For Nokia:

Since 2009, 6.3 million people have signed up to pay Nokia for commodity data in India, China and Indonesia. On Tuesday, Nokia plans to announce that it is expanding the program, called Life Tools, part of its Ovi mobile services business, to Nigeria.

- NY Times