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Microsoft Windows Phone Marketplace to open to Mango developers in August

By | July 20, 2011, 11:22am PDT

Microsoft is allowing developers writing applications targeting the Windows Phone ‘Mango’ operating system update to submit their applications for approval starting in August.

Update: The exact date is August 22, according to Microsoft Windows Phone Corporate Vice President Joe Belfiore.

Microsoft announced the timing, as well as some updates to the Windows Phone App Hub developer portal on July 20.

So does this mean that Mango is “done” and that the code has been sent from Microsoft to handset makers and its telco partners for testing? The Softies would neither confirm nor deny when I asked.

“Mango App ingestion starting next month is the only news today. Will follow up once the team reaches the next platform milestone. As for update delivery, all I can confirm is that Microsoft is on track to deliver Mango to Windows Phone customers as a free upgrade later this year,” a Windows Phone spokesperson said, via e-mail.

Mango is the next version of the Windows Phone operating system, expected to be named Windows Phone OS 7.5. It includes a number of enhancements, including a HTML5 compliant version of Interent Explorer 9; Twitter integration; third-party-app multitasking and more. (MobileTechWorld has a comprehensive list of the features expected in Mango.)

The updated App Hub portal adds support for 19 new markets beyond the 16 currently supported. The 19 new markets include Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, India, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden and Taiwan. The App Hub also is allowing apps in seven new markets (Chile, Columbia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, South Africa and South Korea) to submit apps for Windows Phone. Microsoft plans to allow developers from China to register starting in early fall and will expand registration support for India at that time.

The App Hub also is adding an expansion in pricing tiers (below $5 U.S.) and an expansion of in-app mobile advertising support for Windows Phone applications.

The promised “private” and “beta” application distribution capabilities are available to developers who want to target specific groups of individuals with their applications.

In other Windows Phone news, some Samsung Focus users who have been waiting to get the 7392 update on their phones saw some progress this week. Updates for the Focus v 1.4 on AT&T began rolling out as of July 19. There’s still no word on when v 1.3 users will get that update, however. The 7392 update is listed as being in the “planning” stage for Verizon HTC Trophy phones. The 7392 update includes the SSL certificate security fix, plus some other general firmware updates.

Update No. 2: Remember a few weeks back when Microsoft pulled the rug out from under its Windows Phone MVPs, telling them they were switching the focus of that Most Valuable Professional (MVP) program? It looks like Microsoft has created the rumored, new Windows Phone Consumer MVP designation and has started naming new MVPs for that particular program.

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Topics

Developer, Phone, Microsoft Windows Phone, Microsoft Corp., Mango App, App Hub Portal, Microsoft Windows, Telecom & Utilities, Operating Systems, Software, Mary Jo Foley

Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 25 years for a variety of publications and Web sites, and is a frequent guest on radio, TV and podcasts, speaking about all things Microsoft-related. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008).

Disclosure

Mary-Jo Foley

Freelance journalist/blogger Mary Jo Foley has nothing to disclose. WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). I do not own Microsoft stock or stock in any of its partners or competitors. I have no business ventures that are sponsored by/funded by Microsoft or any of its partners or competitors.

Biography

Mary-Jo Foley

Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 25 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She has kept close tabs on Microsoft strategy, products and technologies for the past 10 years. In the late 1990s, she penned the award-winning "At The Evil Empire" column for ZDNet, and more recently the Microsoft Watch blog for Ziff Davis.

Got a tip? Send her an email with your rants, rumors, tips and tattles. Confidentiality guaranteed.

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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone Marketplace to open to Mango developers in August
Micky Frangelico 1st Nov
If Mango really includes an HTML5 compliant version of Interent Explorer 9; Twitter integration; third-party-app multitasking and more, then it's going to be a pretty impressive roll-out. Gynexin
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How much will Apple's HTC win help sell the new devices?
x I'm tc 20th Jul
If a lot, this could get interesting.
0 Votes
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It's already got the cheap chinese handset makers jumping on board.
Johnny Vegas 20th Jul
and androids licensing problems are only just beginning. phone/tablet makers are in for a lot more visits from lawyers from a lot more companys just getting into this in the next 24 months. As for MS they REALLY need to get their *partners* to step up and fix the idiot retail sales people problem. The are horibly misinformed on WP and most have still never used it. Even in the US. They are spouting complete garbage and steering interested people away with their bs.
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone Marketplace to open to Mango developers in August
sunilgmishra 20th Jul
@Johnny Vegas

Before they fix the retails sales people problem, they first need to fix their advertisements. Just learn from the iPad ads, for gods sake! Just show all those cool features two-three at a time on a sexy handset - nobody wants to look at dads watching kids playing football while browsing!
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone Marketplace to open to Mango developers in August
x I'm tc 20th Jul
@Johnny Vegas

I own a Windows Phone. Because it is made by HTC, the hardware is kind of crappy, but attractive. Getting a more significant contribution from Samsung -- and of course the Nokia deal -- will give MS top notch device chops.

As for the software, no doubt Windows Phone is a vision. It is the *most* coherent and well-thought-out mobile OS out there, besting even iOS. Nevertheless, if you don't happen to love the vision, well, you're just not going to love a WP. In addition, there is no question that MS's "beyond the phone" ecosystem is bar none the biggest and best out there.

That said, the first thing they need to fix are the glaring inadequacies in the OS itself. The 7.5 update ("Mango") looks like it will go a long way towards doing that, but worries remain:
* Will I be able to get a WP handset with a front-facing camera soon? If so, will Skype and Yahoo Messenger and Lync (the three services I use, but feel free to add your own) work on it?
* Will I be able to do HDMI-out for some xBox gaming on my TV (or, more likely, just to show off some pictures of my kids to the family)?
* Will I be able to send multiple file attachments in an email? And for that matter, will I be able to send any document or file that is on my device, regardless of whether it is an Office Doc or picture vs. some 3rd party bit (like a PDF, for cryin' out loud)? Further, will I be able to receive an email and one account, and reply or forward it from a different one.
* Will there be a less stupid than "email it to myself" way to get said files onto my device in the first place?
* Will multitasking be sufficiently well implemented that I can run my GPS in the background while I go send a text or an email, and still get my voice prompts? And for that matter, will solid turn-by-turn directions be available (I'm looking at you, Nokia Maps)? My last two phones (a Nokia E71 and a Palm Pre) did this without blinking, and I bought the first of those more than three years ago.
* Can the atrocious notification system be brought up to par? WebOS is the benchmark here, but Android and Apple's new implementations are probably good enough.
* When will binary (e.g., native) code be allowed so that we can get applications that really have oomph, like alternative media players?
* Will side-loading work well?
* Can 3rd party applications interface with the built in ones, like the calendar and contacts, in useful ways?

Once these things are addressed, WP will deserve to fly off the shelves. MS has genuinely innovated and come up with a top-notch, joy-to-use product. But it has to be able to do the things that Symbian has been doing in its own muddled way for years, and Android and iOS can now do brilliantly. Only then will the poor sops at the phone store start pushing people toward WP devices.

I thought the "Really?" ads were pretty good!
0 Votes
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Training
retnep Updated - 20th Jul
@Johnny Vegas

Gotta agree on the retail sales problem. I've experienced it myself in at least 4 different stores while looking at phones for my wife.

I don't think this problem is isolated to Microsoft. Many retail employees don't know the difference between Android software versions and many don't know the version of the software that the phone they are selling is running. The average retail employee is very uneducated on the products that they sell, almost shockingly so. If you compare your average T-Mobile/AT&T employee with an Apple employee it's like night and day. The carriers could learn a lot from the fast food industry on training and costumer service.

This lack of training/knowledge probably hurts Windows Phone 7 more than any other phone. Without actual hands on training, it's easy to confuse Windows Phone 7 with Windows Mobile 6.5. Microsoft should have recalled all the Windows Mobile 6.5 phones before releasing Windows Phone 7 and should have qualified Windows Mobile customers for deep discounts on the new Windows Phones 7. They should have instituted a carrier training program to train the retail agents on Windows Phone 7 and should have made WP7 readily available for retail agents to use as their personal phones.
0 Votes
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone Marketplace to open to Mango developers in August
anothercanuck Updated - 20th Jul
@jdakula Apple's HTC win? The score is HTC: 8, Apple: 2 and its only the first period.
0 Votes
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone Marketplace to open to Mango developers in August
TKR1 20th Jul
I am still waiting on a Nokia WP7. Just had a iPhone 3GS replaced under insurance as it failed - GPS chip and 'silent' button - at 18 months old. This is the first phone I have ever had that has stopped working since 1996. I still have a Nokia 5110, 6110i and E65 that all work. In fact I swapped the SIM into the E65 and carried on (missed the apps and speed though).
0 Votes
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone Marketplace to open to Mango developers in August
jatbains 20th Jul
Windows Phone is innovative and more user friendly than the competition. Notifictions are displayed through the live tiles. Metro theming across all of MS properties, Xbox, Win8 will bring UI into the modern age.
Tiles are touch, mouse and kinect friendly.
For those of you who want to sync between Phone and Xbox, Skydrive will be the solution.
All of your docs, pics, backed up to the cloud and accessible on PC, Phone and Xbox.
0 Votes
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here comes Mango!
mikroland 20th Jul
Mango = the beginning of an upward trend for Microsoft, and a downward trend for Arced out Android.
0 Votes
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone Marketplace to open to Mango developers in August
mark deens 24th Sep
Will I be able to send multiple file attachments in an email? And sazky for that matter, will I be able to send any document or file that is on my device, regardless of whether it is an Office Doc or picture vs. some 3rd party bit (like a PDF, for cryin' out loud)? Further, sazky will I be able to receive an email and one account, and reply or forward it from a different one.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Microsoft Windows Phone Marketplace to open to Mango developers in August
sazkove 26th Sep
I don't think this problem is isolated to Microsoft. Many retail employees don't know the difference between Android software versions and many don't know the version of the software that the phone they are selling is running. The average retail employee is very uneducated on the products that they sell, almost shockingly so. If you compare your average T-Mobile/AT&T employee with an Apple employee it's like night and day. The carriers could learn a lot from the fast food industry on training and costumer service.

This lack of training/knowledge probably hurts Windows Phone 7 more than any other phone. Without actual hands on training, it's easy to confuse Windows Phone 7 with Windows Mobile 6.5. Microsoft should have recalled all the Windows Mobile 6.5 phones before releasing Windows Phone 7 and should have qualified Windows Mobile customers for deep discounts on the new Windows Phones 7. They should have instituted a carrier training program to train the retail agents on Windows Phone 7 and should have made WP7 readily available for retail agents to use as their personal phones.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Microsoft Windows Phone Marketplace to open to Mango developers in August
ewd4 2nd Oct
Getting a more significant contribution from Samsung -- and of course the Nokia deal -- will give MS top notch device chops.As for the software, no doubt Windows Phone is a vision. It is the *most* coherent and well-thought-out mobile OS out there, besting even iOS. Nevertheless, stavkove kancelarie if you don't happen to love the vision, well, you're just not going to love a WP. In addition, there is no question that MS's "beyond the phone" ecosystem is bar none the biggest and best out there.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Microsoft Windows Phone Marketplace to open to Mango developers in August
Micky Frangelico 1st Nov
If Mango really includes an HTML5 compliant version of Interent Explorer 9; Twitter integration; third-party-app multitasking and more, then it's going to be a pretty impressive roll-out. Gynexin

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