14 DAY TRIAL // It seems that Windows Mobile users out there will have yet another reason to rejoice as soon as the Windows Marketplace for Mobile launches commercially. Not only that the software portal will come along with the new iteration of the operating system, namely Windows Mobile 6.5, but it will also offer users the possibility to personalize their handsets the way they like it best, while resting assured that all the apps that have been through the certification process for the Marketplace will not brick their phones.
One interesting tidbit of info that we learn today is that Microsoft intends to offer users who purchase applications through the Windows Marketplace for Mobile the possibility to share it on a number of five handsets, while using the same live ID, at least this is what Daniel Bouie, a senior product planner for Microsoft, stated during the TechEd conference. While this sounds like a great thing to users, who will not be stuck with the application on a single device, it might not seem so fortunate to the developers that submitted their apps to the portal.
According to analyst Jack Gold, developers would be rather interested into selling as many applications as possible, and Microsoft's move could turn them off. “Developers want to sell as many apps as possible. They don’t want you to run a single app you bought on multiple devices,” Gold said. On the other hand, Microsoft doesn't seem to believe that developers will see this in a negative way. Moreover, it seems that good news is coming for them as well, as Microsoft is reported to plan on allowing for the Marketplace apps to be sold via other stores.
“We feel comfortable that using our LiveID system to help connect products to five devices is a great balance of the needs of both developers and end users,” Bouie stated in an email, reports Computer World. “We see this as a permanent feature, and we’ve gotten great positive feedback from the vast majority of developers we’ve talked with about this,” he added. In addition, he also stated that the Redmond company was working on allowing developers to sell subscriptions for their applications, though it seems that this feature will not come with the Windows Marketplace for Mobile at launch.