Starting with first services on some of the new Nokia devices in July and August, Ovi services will be rebranded as Nokia services in a transition expected to continue into 2012, Nokia announced today. Each of the services under the Ovi umbrella will simply be rebranded as Nokia, the company added.

Nokia?s EVP and Chief Marketing Officer, Jerri DeVard explains the shift:

"We have made the decision to change our service branding from Ovi to Nokia. By centralizing our services identity under one brand, not two, we will reinforce the powerful master brand of Nokia and unify our brand architecture - while continuing to deliver compellingopportunities and experiences for partners and consumers alike."

The transition from Ovi to Nokia will begin in July this year, with the intention of it being completed across all countries and all services by the end of 2012. It's likely that anybody buying a new Nokia smartphone or mobile phone later this year will start to see the new branding on services included within. However anybody already owning a Nokia phone will see this new rebranding through future software updates.

"The reasons for this decision includes the fact that Nokia is a well-known and highly-loved brand the world over. Our mobile experiences are tightly integrated with our devices - there is no longer a differentiation. For example, if consumers want the best mobile navigation experience, they know it's a Nokia that they can rely on. These last few years, and moving forward, our mission remains unchanged: we will continue our work to deliver compelling, unified mobile service offerings and next-generation, disruptive technologies," DeVard continued.

Nokia clarified that this is solely a name-changing exercise and the service roadmaps will continue exactly as planned. The only difference users can expect to see is the replacement of the word Ovi with Nokia, not only on their device software but also in other places such as printed material or online media and advertisements.