LiveSide - News blog : Marketplace

Windows Marketplace now supports Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1

Sunshine — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:18:44 GMT

It hasn’t even been a week since we noticed in a post that Windows Marketplace would support Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 later this month! Well, later this month has come. Starting today almost all people with phones running Windows Mobile 6.0 and above with a supporting data plan can access Marketplace.

To get Marketplace for a Windows Mobile 6.0 or 6.1 based device, customers can simply point their phone’s browser to http://mp.windowsphone.com to start the download process; from the Web, customers can visit http://windowsphone.com/getmarketplace or simply click here. Then browse and shop a wide range of quality applications for work and play; roughly 90% of the apps in our catalogue already support Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 devices.

Go on, have a look!

There are now over 800 applications available at Marketplace, which is more than three times the number it started out with. Surely there’s something that suits your needs.

New Features In Windows Marketplace For Mobile, Support For Windows Mobile 6.0 And 6.1 Later This Month

Sunshine — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:16:25 GMT

Windows Marketplace for Mobile, launched in October together with the launch of Windows phones, got some upgrades:

Developer portal improvements and stronger anti-piracy protection

We’ve been gathering input on what we can do to improve the developer experience and have made some subtle but important enhancements to the developer portal to enable easier uploading of images, greater insight into account status and several other refinements based on feedback from developers. Today’s update also provides more advanced anti-piracy protection. While the underlying technical changes will be transparent for customers, developers will now be able to take advantage of these new protections by following the steps outlined in this anti-piracy whitepaper. As always, updates to existing applications can be submitted for free. To learn more about developing applications for Windows phones, head over to the Windows Mobile for Developers site.

Browse and buy applications from the PC

While we’ve heard great feedback on the Marketplace experience on Windows phones, sometimes people just want the benefits of a shopping on a PC. Starting today, Windows phone customers can browse, buy and download applications online at the Windows Marketplace for Mobile site. The selected applications are delivered wirelessly to the customer’s Windows phone and install the next time the Windows Marketplace client runs on the device. This creates another way for customers to easily find and purchase applications and gives developers a whole new level of exposure.

But that’s not all of the news! In the announcement on the Windows Mobile Developer blog something else caught my eye:

I look forward to providing a more detailed update on Windows Marketplace for Mobile when we extend the service to Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 customers later this month.

Support for Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 customers later this month! Yes, this month! Now is that good news or what?

Windows Mobile 6.5 Phones Coming To A Store Near You On Oct. 6

Sunshine — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:17:53 GMT

Microsoft announced today that Windows Mobile 6.5 phones will be widely available at retail stores worldwide on Oct. 6, 2009. The new phones will be offered by the following phone makers and mobile operators:

• In North America: Mobile operators AT&T, Bell Mobility, Sprint, TELUS and Verizon Wireless, and phone manufacturers HP, HTC Corp., LG Electronics, Samsung and Toshiba Corp.

• In Europe: Mobile operators Orange, Deutsche Telekom AG and Vodafone Group Plc, and phone manufacturers Acer, HTC, LG Electronics, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba

• In Latin America: Mobile operator TIM Brazil, and phone manufacturers HTC, LG Electronics and Samsung

• In Asia Pacific: Mobile operators NTT DOCOMO Inc., SOFTBANK Mobile Corp., SK Telecom, Telstra and WILLCOM Inc., and phone manufacturers Acer Inc., HTC, LG Electronics, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba

Windows Mobile 6.5 will offer users an improved, easy-to-use interface, better browsing capabilities and access to valuable services, including Windows Marketplace for Mobile and Microsoft My Phone. Yes, you read that correctly, Windows Marketplace for Mobile (apps) and My Phone (free back up and sync) will be released at Oct. 6th too!

What else to expect from Windows Mobile 6.5? As mentioned, better browser capabilities. The redesigned Internet Explorer Mobile browser includes a new engine and built-in Adobe Flash Lite support for better rendering and completion of tasks (where’s Silverlight?). Also included is Microsoft Office Mobile and with Windows Live, you can keep track of friends in one place, no matter which social networking sites you belong to — Facebook, Twitter or MySpace Windows Live. You will also be able to change the look and feel of your phone with designer themes or a personal background and customize the home screen with widgets so the information you need is always easy to find.

Race To Market Developer Challenge

Sunshine — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:42:00 GMT

Are you a (Windows Live Mobile) developer? Now is the time to submit your applications to the Windows Marketplace for Mobile. Not only will your app be one of the first available in the marketplace when it launches, but you also have a chance of winning one of the following prizes:

A Microsoft Surface table (30-inch) and developer kit

Online marketing and promotion

A one-of-a-kind trophy

The Contest Entry Period consists of a Submission Period during which applications are accepted in the Marketplace, and a Download Period during which entries are counted for the purpose of this Contest as follows:

Submission Period
Begins at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time (PT) on July 27, 2009, and ends at 11:59 p.m. PT on Dec. 31, 2009
Download Period
Begins at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time (PT) on the date that the Marketplace opens to the public and ends at 11:59 p.m. PT on Dec. 31, 2009

You are eligible to enter the Race to Market Challenge if you are an ISV or application developer residing in a country/region where Microsoft Marketplace for Mobile is available*, have met the criteria for the Marketplace application certification process and have agreed to the terms of the Marketplace.

Entries will be divided into four pools based on geographic region as follows:

USA/Canada
Southeast Asia
Europe / Middle East / Asia
Latin America

and will be judged on:

Most downloads of a free app
Most valuable app (downloads x price)
Most useful (as judged by Microsoft panel)
Most playful (as judged by Microsoft panel)

The names of the winners will be posted online at http://mobilethisdeveloper.com. This list will remain posted until February 1, 2010. Further details are available at http://mobilethisdeveloper.com and in the announcement post.

Good Luck!

* Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong SAR, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and the United States

More WPC09 News: Windows Marketplace For Mobile And Azure Pricing/Release Date

Sunshine — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:19:36 GMT

Whilst we are playing with the Office 2010 Technical Preview, there is more news coming out of/to be announced at the Worldwide Partner Conference.

Windows Mobile Marketplace

The following will be announced regarding Windows Mobile Marketplace today:

1. Application Submission Opens on July 27th: Windows Marketplace will open for application submissions from 29 supported countries* July 27^th.
2. Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 Support: Windows Marketplace will be available for Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 by the end of 2009 (in addition to Windows Mobile 6.5 at launch in the fall).
3. Business Center: Windows Marketplace will feature a "Business Center" category for business applications.
4. Developer Contest: Microsoft will be disclosing the details of a Windows Marketplace developer contest on July 27.

Todd Brix, Senior Director for Mobile Platform Services Product Management at Microsoft, is on site at the Worldwide Partner Conference today talking to partners and presenting the Windows Marketplace strategy. He’ll also give a brief demonstration on the main stage Wednesday morning. Want to check it out now? He made a video for Channel 9 in which he covers the news and shows you a quick Marketplace demo.

Previous articles about Windows Mobile Marketplace

Azure

Also (~~to be~~) announced today is the business model and release date of Azure:

The cloud operating system isn't launching in final form until Microsoft's November Professional Developer Conference, but the pricing announcement will be made at this week's Worldwide Partner Conference. According to CNET:

On a pure consumption basis, Microsoft said it will charge 12 cents per hour for computing, 15 cents per gigabyte for storage and 10 cents per 10,000 storage transactions. For network bandwidth, the software maker is charging between 10 cents and 15 cents per gigabyte.

The discount plan, dubbed the "development accelerator" comes in two forms and offers a 15 percent to 30 percent discount off the consumption charges. It requires a six-month commitment, with overage charges billed at the regular rates. After six months, the pricing reverts to the standard Azure rates.

Microsoft also announced pricing for its SQL Azure database, charging $9.99 for the basic Web edition, including up to a 1GB relational database and $99.99 for the Business Edition, which includes up to a 10GB database.

Update: the CNET article missed out on the .NET services pricing. We find that on Todd Bishop's Microsoft Blog:

.NET Services
Messages: $0.15 per 100K message operations, including Service Bus messages and Access Control tokens
Bandwidth: $0.10 in/$0.15 out per gigabyte

Official announcement by Microsoft
Previous articles about Azure

If you want to follow the WPC, check out the website. Keynotes are streamed live there! Missed out? You can watch them on demand too.

Windows Mobile Marketplace Update

Sunshine — Thu, 21 May 2009 10:10:37 GMT

In our previous article about Windows Mobile Marketplace, we reported that developers outside of the US had problems signing up. Today we can tell you that, at this point, registration is open to English language markets (en-*) in the following countries: US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Singapore and India. Registration in other markets will be enabled over the next few months.

Developers with an existing billing relationship are asked to go through these steps to ensure all the information in their commerce profile is correct:

1. Go to http://billing.microsoft.com

2. Sign in with your Live ID that is associated with your credit card information

3. Under "Billing account overview", click on hyperlink "Go to personal information"

4. In the next page, under "Your personal information" make sure every item is correctly filled and is accurate. If there is any piece of information that's missing or is inaccurate, please click on "Edit personal Information", add/modify the missing piece (including phone number) and save.

5. Try to sign up for Windows Marketplace for Mobile again.

In this Tech Ed Online video about Windows Mobile Application Development, John Bruno chats a bit about the Marketplace registration launch and the subsequent phases. He also mentions that submission of applications is scheduled for later this summer.

Windows Mobile Marketplace Registration Now Open!

Sunshine — Tue, 12 May 2009 11:06:49 GMT

Windows Mobile Marketplace, announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona by Steve Ballmer, is opening the doors for developers as promised. The Windows Mobile Team announced it on their blog as follows:

In the latest update to http://developer.windowsmobile.com, developers can now Register to participate in Windows Marketplace for Mobile. This marks another milestone in providing Windows Mobile Developers a clear path to develop, test, certify and distribute their Windows Mobile applications via the Windows® Marketplace for Mobile.

Microsoft plans to charge developers $99 a year, plus $99 per application, to submit applications to Windows Marketplace for Mobile, though this year, developers are being allowed to submit up to five applications free of charge for that $99 yearly fee. Developers will receive 70% of the net price of the application (not including taxes) that Microsoft collects when your application is purchased.

So what are the steps for developers?

· REGISTER NOW. Developers can submit their complete profile information and take the first step in registration.

· Follow the Windows Mobile Developer team on Twitter @wmdev, Facebook and YouTube.

· Keep up to date via the Windows Mobile Team blog.

· And, stay informed with the latest development tools on the Windows Mobile Developer Center on MSDN.

And, if after reading the FAQ, you still have questions for the team you can comment on their post. According to the comments there are some problems with the registration, like the payment step repeatedly failing and international users being blocked. Apparently you may only sign up if you are in the US, as the credit card address entry automatically fills in "USA" as country which you cannot alter. However there is no mention at all of the registering only being open to US residents on either the blog or the FAQ! Hopefully these issues will be solved soon.

Previously (at CTIA) Microsoft announced that they have already signed up 27 big name-partners for their mobile Marketplace, including Facebook, Sling, EA, AP and CNBC. Want to know what the Windows Mobile Marketplace will look like? Head on over to Geoffrey Emery's for some screenshots, or to Long Zheng’s for the promotional video.

Windows Marketplace For Mobile Developer Strategy Announced!

Sunshine — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:02:49 GMT

At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Steve Ballmer announced Windows Marketplace for Mobile. Not much said back then, but now we have some more information. Microsoft announced the developer strategy for the next generation of Windows® Phones (Windows Mobile 6.5) yesterday.

The Windows Mobile Team blog explains this in greater detail:

What is the revenue and distribution opportunity for developers?

Developers will earn 70% of the revenue generated from sales of their applications.

Applications can be priced and sold in 29 markets using targeted pricing strategies to maximize revenues. This is a great opportunity to tap into a broad international customer base.

Applications can also be distributed through the Marketplace for free.

Tell me more about how to participate…

In the spring, we will release the registration process for you to sign up. Application submissions will be accepted beginning this summer.

Developers will be able to submit up to 5 applications to the Marketplace for the annual registration price of $99. Each additional application within the annual period will have a cost of $99.

For students enrolled in the DreamSpark program, the registration fee will be waived.

How do I get my applications into the Marketplace?

We want developers to focus on their core competency of developing innovative applications. At the same time we will work with developers to ensure that their applications run optimally on Windows phones. We will accomplish this by running a rigorous certification and testing process before applications go to market.

Developers will be able to see detailed feedback during and after the certification process of their applications on the Windows Marketplace for Mobile developer portal.

What do I need to get started?

You can utilize familiar tools and technologies like Visual Studio and the .NET Compact Framework 3.5 to build great applications.

Get the Windows Mobile 6 SDK and everything you need to get started at http://developer.windowsmobile.com

Besides these details the team also posted an interview with Marketplace Product Manager Inigo Lopez. You can watch that on their blog post or on YouTube.

Windows Mobile Team Blog
Windows Mobile Developers