Posts Tagged ‘Windows Marketplace’

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Windows Phone 7 Marketplace To Launch Early October

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

Microsoft has recently issued an update on its planned Windows Phone 7 launch timing, including the final Windows Phone Developer Tools availability on September 16th. The final release of the Developer Tools will include some minor breaking changes compared to the beta tools that are already available. This means that developers may be faced with a number of bugs resulting from these minor changes.

To date, the beta tools have been download over 300,000 times, which indicates that Microsoft has been able to generate some momentum around the Windows Phone 7 platform. The final Developer Tools will also introduce several “highly requested” Silverlight controls, and the panorama, pivot and Bing Maps controls will be available to drop into applications.

While issuing the new timing schedule, Microsoft also advised developers to have apps ready for submission to the Windows Phone marketplace “in early October, when it opens”. This advise indicates that Microsoft is is targeting to launch its platform before the Christmas season. A limited beta test of the app store submission and certification process will be conducted in the coming weeks.

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Posted in Windows Phone Marketplace | No Comments »

Distimo Publishes Latest Report: May 2010

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

Distimo Report LogoIt is our pleasure to release our latest Distimo Report.

This report covers the Apple App Store, BlackBerry App World, Google Android Market, Nokia Ovi Store, Palm App Catalog and Windows Marketplace for Mobile for April 2010, with additional focus on iPhone applications in the Apple App Store during the period November 2009 – April 2010. The major findings are:

  • In the Apple App Store, paid applications in the Top Overall, Games, Business and Entertainment categories stay in these categories for 27, 39, 59 and 38 days on average, respectively. Free applications stay in the Top 100 for a significantly shorter time in the Top Overall, Games and Business categories, with 19, 21 and 39 days on average, respectively. In contrast to these categories, free applications in the Entertainment category stay in the Top 100 for a slightly longer period of time than paid applications; 43 days compared to 38 days.
  • In the Apple App Store, the majority of paid applications that have been in the Top 100 Overall during the entire period of November 2009 – April 2010 fall into the Games and Entertainment categories. The paid applications that have been in the Top 5 for the longest period of time are Doodle Jump (140 days), RedLaser (73 days) and Skee-Ball (68 days). The paid application that has been number one for the longest period of time is Skee-Ball (24 days). The free applications that have been in the Top 5 for the longest period of time are Facebook (12 days) and Paper Toss (7 days).
  • The majority of the 10 highest ranked paid applications were published in the following categories in April 2010: Productivity (Apple App Store for iPad), Games (Apple App Store for iPhone), Themes (BlackBerry App World), News & Weather (Google Android Market), Games (Nokia Ovi Store), Productivity & Utilities (Palm App Catalog) and in Games (Windows Marketplace for Mobile).
  • The majority of the 10 highest ranked free applications were published in the following categories in April 2010: Games and Entertainment (Apple App Store for iPad), Games (Apple App Store for iPhone), Music & Audio/IM & Social Networking/Themes (BlackBerry App World), Tools and Social (Google Android Market), Games and Entertainment (Nokia Ovi Store), Games (Palm App Catalog) and Social Networks/News & Weather (Windows Marketplace for Mobile).
  • In April 2010, the highest ranked paid iPad application in the Apple App Store was Pages, followed by GoodReader for iPad, and Pinball HD. The highest ranked free iPad application in the Apple App Store was iBooks, followed by The Solitaire and Break HD Free.

You can download the report for free here.

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Posted in Android Market, Apple App Store for iPad, Apple App Store for iPhone, BlackBerry App World, Distimo Report, General, Nokia Ovi Store, Palm App Catalog, Windows Marketplace | 1 Comment »

Distimo Report – December 2009

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
It is our pleasure to release our monthly Distimo Report, based on December 2009 data. Distimo Report Logo
This report covers five application stores: Apple App Store, BlackBerry App World, Google Android Market, Nokia Ovi Store and Windows Marketplace for Mobile.

This month’s most important findings are:

  • In Google Android Market, 65% of the publishers are located in the United States, 12% in the United Kingdom, 20% in Europe and 3% in Japan.
  • Publishers located in Europe price their applications highest with an average of $4.42, which is 49% higher than publishers located in the United States.
  • Applications in Apple App Store, Google Android Market and Nokia Ovi Store are priced at around $3.50. Windows Marketplace for Mobile and BlackBerry App World are more expensive, averaging $6.99 and $8.26 respectively.
  • Because of Microsoft’s market validation guidelines and additional fees for distributing applications in more than one country, the number of applications available in some countries is only a small percentage (<5%) of applications available worldwide.

You can download the report here.

This report was covered on TechCrunch here.

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Posted in Android Market, Apple App Store for iPhone, BlackBerry App World, Distimo Report, Nokia Ovi Store, Windows Marketplace | 1 Comment »

Windows Marketplace Available For Older Phones

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

There are several announcements around Windows Marketplace for Mobile these weeks. Last week, Microsoft launched a Web Version of its store, allowing users to discover apps from the desktop.

Following the announcements that Marketplace would support older phones, the store is now available for Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 phones. Consumers that do not have a brand new phone with Windows Mobile 6.5 can now also get Marketplace on their phone and start downloading apps.

To reach the announced 30 million consumers worldwide with access to the store, this was a required step for Microsoft. However, the reach will have to build up since users with an older Windows phone will have to install Marketplace manually first.

If you have a Windows Mobile 6.0 or 6.1 phone, you can download Marketplace here.

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Posted in Windows Marketplace | No Comments »

Windows Marketplace is here

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Microsoft released the new Windows Mobile version 6.5. One of the new features is the Windows Mobile app store, called Marketplace. Initially, it will only be available on new phones with the newest version  6.5 operating system. Current Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 users will get access to the store later this year.

Windows Marketplace launched with 246 available applications. Microsoft previously announced that the store would contain over 600 apps at launch.

Windows Mobile Marketplace

Windows Mobile Marketplace

Consumers that want to purchase applications can pay using credit card or operator billing with a selection of carriers. Marketplace also contains an operator specific section and will be rolled out in 29 different countries.

Windows native applications and widgets are accepted. At this moment it is not possible to submit Java applications. Both paid and free applications are supported. Developers are able to charge one time fees for their applications, or offer them for free. The revenue share for developers is 70%, in line with most competitor stores.

Microsoft also announced that the content in the store will be growing rapidly over the coming months. It will be interesting to see how the content and pricing will develop and if successful developers on other platforms will publish their content in Marketplace.

Developers that want to publish their apps in Windows Marketplace can go here.

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Posted in Windows Marketplace | 1 Comment »

Windows Marketplace launching next week, but not for current phones

Monday, September 28th, 2009

The launch of Windows Marketplace is getting close. On October 6, the new Windows Mobile 6.5 with Marketplace will go to market. Marketplace is said to launch in 29 countries with minimal 600 available applications.

Microsoft states that the reach of Marketplace will be 30 million consumers worldwide. This is however including current Windows Mobile phones in the market that run the 6.0 or 6.1 version of Windows Mobile. According to Pocketnow, it will take several months before Marketplace will be available on these phones:

How will older devices get Marketplace for Mobile loaded onto their phones? Would there be a CAB install file available?
Additional details on using Windows Marketplace from a phone running Windows Mobile 6.0 or 6.1 will be provided by the end of the year. Stay tuned.

Pocketnow: How will older devices get Marketplace for Mobile loaded onto their phones? Would there be a CAB install file available?

Microsoft response: Additional details on using Windows Marketplace from a phone running Windows Mobile 6.0 or 6.1 will be provided by the end of the year. Stay tuned.

Hence, only consumers who buy a new Windows Mobile phone will get access to Marketplace this year.

Support for older devices will dramatically impact the number of consumers that Marketplace developers will be able to reach. We will keep you posted when more news comes out.

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Posted in Windows Marketplace | 1 Comment »

Windows Marketplace launching on October 6

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

Microsoft just announced that Windows Marketplace will launch on October 6. This is also the launch date of Windows Mobile 6.5, where Marketplace is included.

Marketplace will go live in 29 countries and according to Microsoft, it will be accessible for 30 million consumers worldwide.

Since the end of last month, developers have been able to submit their application for Marketplace. At its launch, we’ll be able to see if the previously announced 600 applications will be present.

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Posted in Windows Marketplace | 1 Comment »

Nokia launches a netbook; with an app store?

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

There has been a lot of response on Nokia’s announced entrance into the netbook market, which was announced yesterday. Nokia will launch a netbook, called Booklet 3G. Launch date and more details will be announced on Nokia World on September 2.

The Nokia netbook is rumoured to run on Windows 7. We wonder if it will have an app store, and if so, which one? Other players in this field have made the switch from Windows to the Android operating system and are launching own app stores.

Nokia has its own Ovi Store, and the promotion video shows two interesting things:

  • It will be possible to purchase music on the device from Nokia’s Music Store
  • Ovi services are supported (at least maps, file sharing and mobile phone sync)

Nokia Ovi Services

Nokia Ovi Services

Nokia Music Store

Nokia Music Store

See the full video here.

We think there are three options on how Nokia could include an app store on this netbook:

  1. They won’t. Initially the focus will only be buying music, with no store for apps yet.
  2. Ovi Store will be supported. The current store is completely focussed on Symbian based mobile phones. Hence it will be difficult for Nokia to start a developer community to build great apps for their Windows based netbooks.
  3. Eventually, a Microsoft app store will run on it. Within this year, Microsoft will be offering app stores on mobile phones, media players and gaming devices. Analogous,  it would make sense to also use app stores on Windows 7 based Tablet PC’s and netbooks.

More details will be announced on September 2, during Nokia World in Stuttgart (Germany).

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Posted in Nokia Ovi Store, Windows Marketplace | 4 Comments »

Recap of this week’s app store news

Saturday, August 8th, 2009
  • More Android phones are coming to market the next months from HTC, Samsung and Motorola.
  • Windows Marketplace wants to attract iPhone developers.
  • Handmark launched an app store for Windows Mobile.
  • Palm App Catalog is coming to Canada this month.
  • Distimo Report covering Apple App Store & Android Market is available.
  • Acer is launching an app store within this year.

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Posted in General | No Comments »

Handmark launches app store for Windows Mobile

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
HandMarket Apps for Windows Mobile

HandMarket Apps for Windows Mobile

Yesterday, we covered Microsoft attracting iPhone developers to go for Windows Marketplace at its launch later this year. Now Handmark, which has been developing and selling mobile applications since 2000 in its storefront,  announced the launch of HandMarket Apps for Windows Mobile.

The store supports current Windows Mobile 6.0 phones and up. This is the same as Windows Marketplace will support. There are 600 apps and games available, both free and paid.

HandMarket apps will initially only be available in the US. Consumers can pay for applications using credit card and operator billing for Sprint, Alltel and AT&T.

One big difference with the Handmark store and Microsoft’s own Windows Marketplace, is that Marketplace will be already present on new Windows Mobile phones, where HandMarket Apps can be downloaded from the Handmark website.

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Posted in Handmark, Windows Marketplace | No Comments »

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