Nokia launches Life Tools service across India

By Amit Sharma
12 June 2009

Taking its rural thrust forward, Nokia today formally launched Life Tools, an information service that would deliver agriculture-related news, commodity market prices, weather conditions and other related information to the farming communities and small towns in India.

Nokia has signed a memorandum of understanding with Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB) to obtain the latter's expertise in commodity pricing through its network of 291 local mandis (marketyards).

MSAMB will also provide news and alerts on its various schemes through this channel.

The service will be first rolled out in Maharashtra in association with MSAMB. The commercial launch comes close on the heels of a pilot study which concluded in April 2009 in Maharashtra in association with Reuters Market Light, an SMS crop service.

Unveiling the service at a press conference held in Mumbai, D Shivkumar, managing director, Nokia India, said, ''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.''

Speaking at the occasion, Ashok Chavan, chief minister of Maharashtra, said that the service held ''tremendous potential to improve lives and the livelihood of farmers and sub-urban consumers in Maharashtra.''