WinPho 7 To Seduce App Developers? - The UpStream

WinPho 7 To Seduce App Developers?

posted Thursday Oct 21, 2010 by Jon Wurm

WinPho 7 To Seduce App Developers?

With the WinPho 7 OS being described as an experience comparable to Android and iOS4 the next big step for Microsoft is to put on something sexy to get the attention of the 250,000 plus app developers out there. Take a quick look at the major players in the smart phone OS industry and you will find the usual suspects, Google, Apple, RIM, Palm, and Microsoft, again.

Hit the break to find out why Microsoft could be in the game again.

Microsoft isn't new to the smart phone OS industry by any means but WinPho 7 will include Microsoft's first attempt at a centralized app store. Apple and Google especially have had much success growing their platforms by drawing in app developers with app stores, something that Microsoft must do well if WinPho 7 is to be a success.

It is estimated that 6.2 billion will be spent on 4.8 billion different mobile apps this year. Because Microsoft is so late to the game, they may have a difficult time cutting out their slice of the pie. It all comes down to the app developers, so the question is, what are they saying about WinPho 7 right now?

Square is a widely used mobile app that basically changes your cell phone into a credit card reader with a free dongle. Co-founder Jack Dorsey likes the OS's focus on a large graphical interface that makes information more clear but thinks they have some catching up to do and will be watching WinPho 7 closely in the near future.

Fring is a huge mobile app that can boast gaining 500,000 new users a month and there's no question why. Their app allows you to make free voice call, cheap international calls and do live face chat among many other things. Vice President Jake Levant said that first Microsoft has to build the app developer ecosystem which will be difficult but possible. Then there is the issue of no WinPho 7 handset having a front camera which makes face chatting a little difficult. For the time being they are on a wait and see basis.

Do you think Microsoft will be able to woo app developers over to their platform?

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