The Nokia Software Updater is claimed to offer the same updates that customers would receive at Nokia Service Centre. The added advantage, according to the company, is the convenience, as users can now easily perform the update themselves, from any location with an Internet connection.

In the future, every new S60 product will be compatible with Nokia Software Updater, the company says. At the moment the application is available for selected Nokia devices, including Nokia 6630, Nokia 6680, Nokia 6681, Nokia 6682, Nokia N70 and Nokia N71, Nokia N72, Nokia N73, Nokia N80, Nokia N90, Nokia N91, Nokia N92, and Nokia N93.

Several Mobile Phones and Enterprise Solutions devices will also be introduced later this year. However, Nokia Software Updater is already available for all of the above mentioned models on the application intranet pages.

Peter Robertson from Multimedia Customer Care hopes that Nokia customers will welcome the application with great interest. The update has been made as customer-friendly as possible. All that is needed is a PC and the standard sales-pack data cable - no dongles, no adaptors, no fuss. A typical update takes around 30 minutes, he says.

In the future, more and more software updates will be done over the Internet, he adds. In fact, the number of software updates carried out in the Customer Care Networks Service Centres is expected to be reduced by up to 60%, he says. The launching of the application is also expected to lower the overall device return rate, and thus reduce the warranty costs.

The application has been developed by Technology Platforms Test and Service Solutions team, with the supporting delivery service provided by CMO Customer Care, CMO Delivery Solutions and BI, Nokia says.

The Nokia Software Updater can now be downloaded on the Nokia UK product support Internet pages, Robertson says. In addition, the application will be promoted on all the country and area Web sites within the next couple of months, he concludes.