App store latest: Verizon launches own store while Microsoft targets older phones
Verizon is to become the first network carrier to offer its own app store, which will be installed by default on the handsets it sells. Meanwhile Microsoft has announced it will drastically increase the audience for its own store by making it compatible with older editions of Windows Mobile.
The Verizon scheme does not involve creating a new operating system. Instead, any handset produced for Verizon to sell must include a link to the new store. Just as importantly, the handsets must not ship with access to any other app store system.
There is nothing to stop users manually installing software to give themselves access to a rival store (that is, one specifically designed for their particular handset). However, developers will need to go through the Verizon application process if they want the app to tie into its service contract database, for example to charge the customer through their monthly phone bill.
The branding for the Verizon store hasn’t been made public yet, but the firm is using the term “Verizon Developer Community” for a conference in San Jose later this month to launch the scheme.
In other app store news, the Microsoft store is still on schedule for a fall launch. The firm has just announced that it will begin accepting submissions from 27 July.
At first the store will only be available on devices running Windows Mobile 6.5 which, given such devices will be debuting at around the same time, will mean the initial audience is pretty limited. However, Microsoft has also announced that it plans to have the store available on 6.0 and 6.1 devices by the end of the year.
That would take the potential audience for applications in the store to more than 30 million, which isn’t far behind the 37 million iPhones and iPod touches (as of the last quarterly financial report) which have access to the Apple app store.
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