Finnish mobile giant Nokia is taking on the likes of Apple, BlackBerry and Samsung with the launch of its own Symbian OS application store.

Rumours abound that the new application store will be launched at this week's Mobile World Congress, an annual event allowing mobile phone manufacturers to showcase their newest wares. According to tech site engadget, Nokia is currently testing its applications store behind the scenes, with an announcement set to unveil the software at the event.

The store would allow Symbian users to download Symbian applications onto their mobile phones direct from Nokia, creating an additional revenue stream for the Finnish firm. Symbian currently offers many different apps, but there is no simple way to get them onto mobile phones. Because of this, many users are unaware of the wealth of apps available, as they do not want to spend an inordinate amount of time acquiring them.

Taking heed from other manufacturers like Apple's iPhone app store and Research in Motion's BlackBerry app store, Nokia could see a massive leap in the number of applications downloaded for its Symbian models, ensuring more customer loyalty as users flock to Symbian-specific stores for their needs. Mobile World Congress takes place in Barcelona and will run from February 16-19 this year.

It will see speakers from myriad mobile phone manufacturers, network providers and technology companies discussing the upcoming year concerning their products and offerings.

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