Windows Mobile app store open for developers !!! Bonanza begins !!!
May 02, 2009 [General] | By Edward J. R.
Windows Marketplace for Mobile aka Windows Mobile app store are accepting developers, so that they can enter they data and they can start uploading their applications to the store!
Credit card with $99 on it and Live ID (such as hotmail or passport account) is all you need! The $99 fee is annual so you will have to pay it next year too.
More details and remarks:
Microsoft writes:
CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT IN A FEW SIMPLE STEPS
- Get a Live ID. Dont have a Live ID? Signing up is easy!
- Sign the application provider agreement
- Create your profile Provide us with personal contact info.
- Provide company information We’ll need your business information, such as tax identification numbers and a bank account to establish your vendor account. This should come from an authorized officer of your company, or the individual bank account holder.
- Pay annual subscription fee Get great benefits for just $99 Plus taxes, if applicable
Some remarks about it:
- developers should hurry up as the ones who will be the first to market through app store will earn the most money
- use Internet Explorer and not Firefox or Google Chrome or other non-Microsoft browser as we noticed some issues with non-Microsoft browsers
- to get paid a US Tax number is required what may be tricky for non-US citizens ; the form is confusing in this area and we advice developers from outside of USA to start taking care of it now as it may take long time ; if we understand it correctly: non-US developers will have to send W8 form to Microsoft - so not only W8 form must be acquired from USA but then it must be sent to Microsoft
- not only entry of the USA tax info can slow down the process but also the queue of people entering the store - so in any case developers should forget the weekend and should start applying to the store now, now, now!
- entry of bank info for transfer of money is also confusing as there are several banking ways of transferring money and Microsoft uses just 3 fields without elaborating; in other words: despite this store being global it looks like bank transfers will be local and you have to specify bank account information in local format of your country, not in one of international formats
- as app store from Apple proven it: the point of app stores is to have one place for application selling and thus ability concentrate on software development - the opening of this app store for Windows Mobile changes everything
- the app store will be available only in Windows Mobile 6.5 phones (that go on sale around September 2009) and in future versions of Windows Mobile - so it will not have huge base of phones at the beginning but since it will be included in all Windows Mobile phones and sales of Windows Mobile phones are more than 10 million phones a year, developers will get opportunity to earn significant money
- Handango and other mobile software stores are over: through the app store of Microsoft developers get better exposition (it is built-in into each phone!) and better money (Microsoft takes only 30% while Handango and others take 50 to 60%).
- app store is a big equalizer meaning that even small developers but with good software will be able to achieve big sales - instead of hand picking by corrupted judges (like some magazines were doing in cooperation with Handango), and instead of artificial promotions (like evil Handango did) now, at last, meritocracy comes to Windows Mobile!
- the importance of app store cannot be underestimated: it is not only important for developers who will earn more money and achieve better discoverability for their software, but also for end users, who will no be able to get apps that otherwise, without app store, would not be created at all!
To learn more, or to sign up as developer, visit http://developer.windowsmobile.com/marketplace.aspx.
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