Samsung's Application Store Goes Live

In a trend launched last year by Apple with the availability of its App Store for the highly popular iPhone, South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung announced today the release of its Application Store, meant to provide Samsung smartphone users with access to a variety of applications designed for their devices. The software portal, the manufacturer unveiled, is available starting today in the UK, France and Italy, with more than 30 countries to follow shortly, including Germany and Spain.

The owners of a Samsung Omnia handset will be those to benefit from access to the Application Store, the company stated, adding that Omnia II (Model Name: I8000) and OmniaLITE (Model Name: B7300) are the lucky devices for the time being. With the new software portal, users will be able to access a wide range of solutions, including games, e-books, references, social networking services, and more.

Samsung has also released an on-device client for its smartphone users, which comes in English, French and Italian, with support for credit card billing through the mobile application store. The phone billing option will also become available in the near future, and users can download apps and purchase them from the application store via this option even if they haven't signed up with the portal. In addition, Samsung also states that other handsets and languages will support the service in the near future too.

“With the launch of the Application Store, Samsung will increase mobile phone sales and add value for its mobile customers through the availability of carefully selected applications,” said Hosoo Lee, Executive Vice President of Samsung’s Media Solution Center. “The Application Store will expand the service channel, not only on handheld devices but also on PCs through the launch of new PC software. The software will allow customers to download applications and manage them on a PC to maximize service usability.”

The Samsung Application Store opened with a number of 300 applications on board, and is expected to include more than 2,000 apps before the end of the year. Some of the companies to deliver content to the portal are Gameloft, Electronic Arts, Handmark, TAITO, Paragon SW, Capcom, Com2us, Prompt, Pearson Longman, Bokan Tech and Diotek, Samsung added. More details can be found here.