When Ovi Store launches later this month, it’s guaranteed a healthy developer turnout from day one, given Nokia’s existing developer programs and the scale of the store - supporting an addressable base of 50 million handsets from launch.

However, the company isn’t sitting on its laurels, and is working hard in the months leading up to the Ovi Store launch to be as transparent as possible to developers considering bringing apps and other content to its store.

With that in mind, content providers have been able to visit Publish to Ovi since March to register and start adding their content to the store.

Nokia says that it may take up to several days for content to be approved for distribution, and that it’s running a transparent screening process when deciding which apps (and games) will be made available through the Ovi Store.

“Content must be Symbian Signed or Java Verified,” says Marco Argenti, VP of Media and Games, Nokia. “For games, we’ll support a variety of file types for Series 40 and S60 devices, including Flash (.sis, .sisx and .nfl), Web Runtime Widgets (.wgz), Java (.jar and .jad) and Symbian (.sis and .sisx). We’re looking for great experiences independent of genre and format.”

Developers are naturally keen to know what they’ll earn from sales of their games through Ovi Store, and Nokia is offering a 70:30 revenue share. But how does that break down exactly? Does it vary according to billing? In a word, yes.

“For credit card transactions, a developer will receive 70 per cent of what the end user pays, net of refunds and returns, less applicable taxes,” says Argenti.

One of the most intriguing aspects of Ovi Store is its smart features and how they’ll evolve over time. At launch, relevant content is recommended to consumers based on their specific locations, their respective Nokia devices, the individual content compatibility and the consumers' own purchase behaviour.

“Games would be recommended by people they trust and/or based on their geographic location,” says Argenti.

“If one of my friends loves action games, and he sees that I bought an action game that he doesn’t have, then he will see my purchases, see that I like the game, and so the recommendation comes from a trusted source. Likewise, if you like action games and you travel to the UK, you could receive games that are specific to that region that you might not have played.”

All eyes will be on Ovi Store when it launches in May to see how this plays out.