Microsoft brings Android support to Windows Azure Mobile Services

CLOUD SERVICE PROVIDER Microsoft has announced that it will support development of native Android applications on its Windows Azure Mobile Services.

Microsoft's Windows Azure Mobile Services helps developers integrate the firm's Windows Azure cloud services in their applications and supports Windows Phone and iOS applications. Now the firm has announced support for native Android applications, opening the service to another developer base.

Ahmed Sabbour, developer evangelist for Microsoft Windows Azure said the Azure software development kit (SDK) for Android is available on Github and was developed by Microsoft Open Technologies, while the Windows Azure team offers assistance in portal integration and push notification support. He pointed out that developers can include user authentication through Microsoft's own accounts, Facebook, Twitter and Google.

Sabbour said, "Whether you are a developer building an app for the Windows Store, iPhone, iPad, or Android and want an easy backend connection for storage, identity and push notifications, Windows Azure Mobile Services provides the right capabilities developers need."

Microsoft hopes that as more developers make use of its Windows Azure infrastructure it will effectively bind their software products to the service and its closed APIs. However Windows Azure has been a source of embarrassment for Microsoft recently, as it forgot to renew SSL certificates leading to a number of services going down.

Microsoft's Windows Azure Mobile Services are presently free for the first ten applications that run on shared instances, but require payment to Microsoft thereafter.

Commercial software developers should consider this carefully before deciding to use Windows Azure, because as their software applications grow in number and popularity they could find themselves locked in, with effectively little choice but to pay whatever Microsoft might demand. µ