Nokia Life Tools is a range of agriculture, education and entertainment services addressing the information gaps of target consumers. Friday, June 12, 2009: After a successful pilot in Maharashtra, Nokia has commercially launched Nokia Life Tools service in India. The service will be rolled out first in Maharashtra in association with the Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB). Designed specifically for the emerging markets, Nokia Life Tools is a range of agriculture, education and entertainment services addressing the information gaps of target consumers.
The Nokia Life Tools Agriculture service offers consumers a choice of 2 plans. The basic plan, available across India at Rs 30/month, provides daily weather updates and relevant agriculture-related news, advice and tips. The premium plan, at Rs 60/month, will be available in 10 states, including Maharashtra, and provides the closest market prices for three crops chosen by the subscriber, as well as weather, news, advice and tips.
Nokia is collaborating with Reuters Market Light (RML), which was the exclusive provider for agriculture services in the successful pilot.
The Nokia Life Tools Education service, available throughout India, offers three components: Learn English, with basic, intermediate and advanced levels; Exam preparation, which offers students tips and advice for ICSE, CBSE and state board-level exams mapped to the relevant curriculum; and general knowledge. Each of the education services will be offered at Rs 30/month.
The Nokia Life Tools Entertainment service at launch will include astrology, news, jokes, cricket and ringtones, offered at existing market prices.
Nokia signed an MOU with the MSAMB, under which MSAMB will provide expertise in the areas of commodity prices from their network of 291 local mandis (marketyards). MSAMB will also have the opportunity to deliver news, alerts on schemes and other information directly to grassroots consumers.
Speaking at the occasion, Ashok Chavan, chief minister, Maharashtra, said, "We are happy that Maharashtra is the first state in India to go live with the Nokia Life Tools services in association with the state marketing board. Empowering our people with the right tools and facilities is a top priority for the state government. I would like to congratulate Nokia for developing a unique and innovative service that has tremendous potential to improve lives and the livelihood of farmers and sub-urban consumers in Maharashtra."
Harshavardhan Patil, minister, co-operation, marketing, cultural affairs and parliamentary affairs, commented, "It has been the Maharashtra state government's endeavour to provide vital agri information tools for a progressive and an empowered farmer community. Nokia Life Tools is tailormade to positively impact farmers across the state. This MOU further strengthens MSAMB's mandate to get the information directly to the farmers."
"Nokia Life Tools was a result of the entire ecosystem coming together and is ideally placed to usher in an information revolution impacting the daily lives of people," added D Shivakumar, managing director, Nokia India.
The complete Nokia Life Tools solution will be available on the newly launched Nokia 2323 classic and Nokia 2330 classic devices, and will be later expanded to other Nokia devices.
Nokia Life Tools service will be expanded to select countries across Asia and Africa later in 2009 and beyond.
|
