Back when the first developer details for the Windows Marketplace for Mobile app-store emerged, Microsoft made no bones about their $99 yearly fee for developers. That charge, they told us, included up to five submissions per year; what has now become clear is what exactly counts as a submission, and it looks as though that inclusive five will be all to easy to burn through. For a start, application updates will count as a new submission.
Further details of Zer01 Mobile’s VoIP service have emerged, suggesting that the carrier will not only use AT&T’s network, as first reported, but has interconnect agreements with several US carriers. The $69.99 monthly fee gets unlimited calling in the US and unlimited data; a further $10 per month adds unlimited international calls to 40 destinations.
Further details of HTC’s 2009 range of Windows Mobile smartphones and mobile devices have leaked, including which platforms the handsets will use, what processors and memory they will be fitted with, their chipsets and display specifications. The news follows on from the January leak of what’s believed to be HTC’s entire 2009 portfolio.
YouTube have released a free video viewer for Windows Mobile and Symbian S60 phones. The app, which supports searches together with browsing through the Top Rated, Most Viewed and Most Viewed categories, goes some way to making up for the lack of Flash support in many mobile browsers.
Video demos on WM6.1 and S60 devices after the cut
Microsoft have released operational details of the Windows Marketplace for Mobile, including fees for developers hoping to distribute their applications via the system. Both paid and free software will be available, with a $99 yearly registration fee for developers; 70-percent of app revenue will go to the developer themselves.
The yearly registration fee includes up to five submissions to the Marketplace; subsequent submissions are charged at $99 per app. Student developers can bypass the fees by signing up to the Microsoft DreamSpark program. As for the price of each individual app, that can be set by the developer themselves.
A website for the Windows Marketplace for Mobile, Microsoft’s answer to the Apple App Store, has gone live, complete with a mobile-formatted layout and the promise that downloads will be “coming soon”. Announced at Mobile World Congress last month, the Marketplace will offer developers a straightforward way to reach would-be users, with on-device downloads and increased publicity.
What’s currently unclear, though, is what format the new Windows Mobile Marketplace will take. Although Microsoft played their cards close to their chest at MWC, the assumption had been that the store would be a standalone application. This new website could be a sign that Microsoft have instead gone for an internet portal.
We caught up with HTC this morning to check out their new Windows Phones, the HTC Touch Diamond2 and the HTC Touch Pro2, as announced yesterday. Say what you like about the Microsoft OS, HTC have put together a pair of slick handsets, taking the best of the original Diamond and Pro and packing in extra screen size, more sensible hardware controls and higher-capability media functionality.
Full hands-on gallery with both HTC handsets, the Touch Diamond2 and the Touch Pro2, after the cut
Today at Mobile World Congress, Adobe revealed its new Flash Lite – version 3.1. The Advanced Flash Lite features functionality of Adobe Flash 10 and supports more phones than its previous version. Lists of supported devices can be found on Adobe Labs page.
“Flash Lite 3.1 includes the same features as Flash Lite 3.0, such as support for Flash Player compatible video, with some additional enhancements including improved security model for SWF file access. The solution delivers a standalone player for applications, without affecting the Flash Lite browser plug-in or pre-installed standalone player, if present.”
Palm has also announced that webOS will be able to run Flash Lite on its Pre phone. Flash Lite 3.1 is currently available on Adobe’s site as public beta for Windows Mobile and Nokia S60 Symbian OS. Now if only Apple would make it easier for Adobe to put Flash on the iPhone, life would be much better for iPhone users.
No great surprise, but Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer has officially announced the latest version of Windows Mobile, version 6.5, today at Mobile World Congress, complete with a new name: Windows Phones. The newest version of the platform, as we’ve already seen in leaked screenshots, introduces a honeycomb launcher GUI which can be organized with often-used applications to the top of the screen, has customizable widgets and improved browsing via Internet Explorer Mobile 6.5 with the same browser engine as IE on the desktop.
After laying off 77 engineers and ending Windows Mobile development at their Plantation facility, speculation abounded that Motorola was planning a wholesale switch from the Microsoft smartphone platform to Google’s open-source Android OS. However the company is insisting that such a move is not on the cards, with Motorola spokesperson Maya Komadina claiming that development of the platform continues at the company’s other facilities.
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