Nokia announced a raft of new partnerships with app and game developers intended to bring new titles to its Lumia Windows Phone smartphones.

The exclusive apps encompass sport (PGA Tour, ESPN), lifestyle, (Groupon), finance (PayPal), entertainment (AOL), news (Newsweek and Time Magazine), productivity (Box) and games (Rovio and EA).

Marco Argenti, SVP for Nokia Developer Experience, said that the company is focused on locally-relevant apps offering unique and exclusive experiences and that with Lumia devices available in 48 markets, developers are recognising the business opportunities this represents.

“With new and exclusive apps launching on a regular basis, and Nokia Lumia rapidly expanding into new markets, Nokia and Microsoft are demonstrating meaningful differentiation for consumers, developers, operators and retailers," said IDC chief research officer and EVP Crawford Del Prete.

The partnerships were announced at this week’s CTIA Wireless 2012 conference in New Orleans.