Redmond, Washington — Microsoft is not particularly famous for maintaining punctuality on their launch deadlines, but it seems Redmond has learned from their past. But yesterday, Microsoft officially entered the "Race to Market Challenge" and opened its Windows Marketplace for Mobile application store to software developers as the software behemoth moves to catch up to the success of market share in the mobile space, already fiercely contested by Apple, Google, Research In Motion, Nokia and other companies.
Microsoft has announced that it is now accepting WinMo application submissions from registered developers in 29 countries where the Windows Marketplace will go live. And, to celebrate, Microsoft is holding a "Race to Market Challenge" and the most popular applications as judged by downloads, revenue, usefulness and more would receive prizes, said Todd Brix, leader of Windows Marketplace for Mobile at Microsoft, in a blog posting.
There are thousands and thousands of apps that have been written for Windows Mobile over the years. But for now, Windows Marketplace for Mobile will support applications for WinMo 6.0, 6.1 and 6.5, the latest version of Microsoft’s smartphone operating system, which means when the store launches, there will be tens of millions of potential customers.
Developers can start uploading applications to Windows Marketplace now and will probably have to wait about 10 business days for certification or a detailed explanation of why a program was not accepted, according to Brix.
"Our strategy for all of this is pretty straightforward; we want to create a global marketplace for Windows Phones where developers and users meet to sell and buy high quality and high value applications that make work easier and life more fulfilling," said Brix.
Software developers can include their own marketing materials with their applications and will be able to earn money on sales. By the time Windows Marketplace launches in fall 2009, Microsoft hopes to list around 600 applications available. While certainly a large inventory, however, it dawdles behind Apple’s App Store, which currently features over 65,000 apps.
People interested in purchasing software on the site will be able to download applications to their PCs or mobile phones, using an assortment of payment options, and enjoy a money back guarantee, said Brix.
Although Apple operates the world’s largest mobile phone application store, and more than a billion software applications have been downloaded from the App Store, which is available in 77 countries, and serves 45 million iPhone users, Apple executives said during the company’s quarterly investors conference last week.
Nevertheless, Brix estimates the software customer base for Windows mobile phone applications is around 30 million people. Guidelines for developers can be found here, (PDF) while submission requirements can be found here (PDF) and policies here (PDF).
So, get your coding-fingers charge-up and launch your app onto the Windows Marketplace for Mobile!