New App Hub Portal Available for Windows Phone Developers

Application developers interested in building software for Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system now have a new App Hub developer portal at their disposal, the Redmond-based software giant has just announced.

Through it, a new set of functionalities was put in place for developers, along with a wide range of enhancements, and support for more markets than before.

All these improvements are made ahead of the release of Windows Phone Mango, the next flavor of the company's mobile operating system.

“For those of you who are new to Windows Phone, App Hub is where you manage your account, change settings, submit applications and stay up to date on Windows Phone,” Microsoft's Todd Brix explains in a recent blog post.

The updated App Hub will provide Mango developers with an increased number of geographic markets to target, with increased consumers and advertising coverage, as well as with new private distribution options, and a series of improved application and account management capabilities.

The Windows Phone Marketplace that accompanies Mango will be available in 19 new consumer markets and in a number of 7 new developer markets. There will also be a mobile in-app advertising market expansion coming up next, the company announced.

Moreover, the App Hub portal features localizations for Korean and Simplified Chinese, English and Japanese. Microsoft also plans to periodically modify price tiers on a country-by-country basis in the near future.

Also with Mango, the Windows Phone Marketplace will put in place beta distribution options for developers, as well as targeted distribution.

Not to mention that developers will benefit from enhanced application management with the new portal, through an improved developer dashboard, more detailed reporting, new ‘Crash Count’ report, streamlined application submission process, and new App Categories.

“As you can see we’ve acted on your input and continue to improve and expand the Marketplace opportunity and experience for developers and consumers alike,” Todd Brix noted.

“I hope you find this information useful and the resources give you what you need to be Mango-ready in August. It’s time to put the finishing touches on your Mango apps and have them ready to submit in August,” he concluded.