Windows Mobile is on version 6.5.3 now; the best news for users of this version are little things like the improved touchscreen functionality, and the new and improved on-screen keyboard; the version number might chafe a little considering all the hoopla around Windows 7 for the PC. Mobile users will have to wait another year for the big 7 (though the beta, codenamed Photon is already out). Recently, at the Windows Mobile partner conference in New Orleans, Microsoft announced that its mobile app development program was now open to all comers around the world. This could just turn their app store into the hive of activity the iPhone app store is.
The Windows Marketplace for Mobile, as it is called, doesnt seem like the me-too product next to the iPhone app store that the Zune seems next to the iPod. It seems to be quite well thought-out. The Marketplace allows you to browse for apps on the web or on your mobile phone screen, and you can pay for them with your mobile phone bill. Funny how the Windows world once flourished by opening programming standards on the Windows desktop platform to every programmer in the world, while Apple tried to do most of the work itself or with a few select partners. Today, the iPhone app store is open to anyone on earth, and has about 100,000 apps (and 2 billion downloads), even the new Android Marketplace has more than 10,000 by being open-standard. And the Windows app store for Windows Mobile is putting on a brave showing with 300 apps, many of them designed by Microsoft itself.
That is all set to change now though with the way they are opening up their developer process to everyone in the world. The Windows Mobile application marketplace may not be that well-known, the applications may cost $10 or $20 to the iPhones $3, but it seems to be getting there. Consider the MyPhone backup and media sharing app. It has a virtual dashboard that lets you rifle through your contacts, pictures videos, documents, and other apps. It also lets you easily connect to Facebook, MySpace and other social networks. If you happen to misplace your phone, My Phone will also let you operate the phone remotely.
The Windows Mobile platform is kind of losing its way; its been around for five years now, and is hardly competing with the iPhone app store in numbers. The Windows Mobile platform has been through many iterations too and not all apps work on all versions. Meanwhile, it is rumored that Windows Mobile 7 will have Zune functionality, and some might call that a nasty surprise. And have you heard the other rumor that Windows Mobile, by the time it makes it to version 7, will be called WindowsPhone instead? They have got to stop competing with the iPhone so narrowly.
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