Operators to Have Own-Branded Versions of Windows Marketplace

According to the latest news on the web, the Redmond-based Microsoft is negotiating with different European carriers, including Vodafone, Telefonica and O2, so as to release into the wild branded versions of the Marketplace. It is uncertain whether the said versions of the portal will still maintain the Windows Marketplace for Mobile name, or if they will sport a different branding.

According to Tweakers.net, the news comes from Maarten Sonneveld, Microsoft Mobile Netherlands. It seems that, in case the deal will close, mobile phone carriers will be able to include into the ROM of the Windows Mobile-powered handset they will sell their own-branded application for the Windows Marketplace for Mobile. For the time being, there are no exact details available in regard to the negotiations between Microsoft and the wireless operators, though more details should surface in the near future.

As many of you might already know, the software portal will become available only for mobile devices that will run under the upcoming Windows Mobile 6.5 iteration of the platform, which are expected to hit the market later during the ongoing year, most probably sometime in the third or the fourth quarter of it.

Both the upcoming version of the operating system, as well as the Windows Marketplace are brand new features Microsoft is bound to offer to mobile phone users, and they mark the transition towards the next-generation Windows Mobile 7 platform, which has been announced to become available sometime in the second quarter of the next year.

The Windows Marketplace for Mobile, as well as the 6.5 version of Microsoft's operating system are expected to come on ten phones this year, among which we can count HTC Touch Diamond2 and the HTC Touch Pro2, or the Toshiba TG01 smartphone, as well as a few others that will receive an update from the current Windows Mobile 6.1 to the upcoming iteration of the OS.