Microsoft to unveil online app store

TO COUNTER APPLE'S APP STORE, Microsoft is looking to the markets for inspiration, the Middle Eastern markets that is, with reports the firm plans to launch an "online bazaar" for mobile phone software.

The Vole is also  close to releasing a new version of Windows Mobile, version 6.5, with a less ugly, more intuitive interface.

Friday saw the Redmond giant tentatively begin to roll out its new 'My Phone' service, which will be officially launched at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona next week, where Steve Ballmer is a keynote speaker.

The service is somewhat similar to Apple's MobileMe, synchronising data - like contacts, calendar appointments, photos and text messages - stored on Windows Mobile smartphones, to a password protected Web site, for easy backup if a phone is lost or stolen.

Unlike Apple's MobileMe, which costs £58 ($99) a year, Mighty-Soft is planning on offering its My Phone service for free, with the firm hoping the incentive will give its smartphone business a much-needed boost as the firm struggles to keep up with the Iphone and Google's Android software.

Developers have already made thousands of apps for Windows Mobile, but unlike Apple's Iphone App Store or even Google's application store, the Android Market, they can't currently all be found in one online space, making Microsoft something of a Johnny-come-very-lately in the game. µ

L'Inq
Wall Street Journal