The new Nokia Ovi Store is in the process of going live around the world with Ireland, for a change, being one of the first to get it.

This is their response to the iPhone App Store and Android Market. You install it by opening the Download! App on your phone (for N-series anyway). Takes ages to install and phone must be rebooted.

My initial feeling is that it doesn’t feel wildly different to that Download! app on my N95-8GB and there is too much Star Trek.

Much more importantly, if you search for something like Shozu, they want €5! Eh, isn’t it free on the Shozu site? A rip-off like that means I’m unlikely to ever use the store again.

How much is Nokia charging companies to put their apps on the store? Is that the reason for the €5? Google charged us nothing to put the “LouderVoice Reviews” for Android app up on the Market.

UPDATE: Based on the newsletter I got from Shozu last night, it’s them charging the €5 not Nokia.  Therefore, I was wrong, Nokia are not the rip-off merchants. It looks like some previously free apps are now pay-for because they have a better route-to-market. Nokia should have spotted this PR mess before it happened and “encouraged” Shozu to offer a freeium option. The fact that they are charging the €5 in Ireland but are not even on the UK Ovi Store makes this story even more odd.

Some screenshots: