-
your Windows® embedded community
Windows For Devices
your Windows® embedded community
The Bloomberg Businessweek article today by Dina Bass and Adam Stariano cites Todd Brix (right), senior director for Microsoft's mobile services and developer product management group. Brix is quoted as saying, "We are investing a lot to attract developers big and small to Windows Phone 7 to let them understand what the opportunity is and provide as many resources as we can to help them be successful on our platform. We're open for business and we want to work with them."Brix reportedly declined to say how much Microsoft is spending on developer incentives, but suggested that it's more than Redmond has spent on previous mobile operating systems. According to Businessweek, the incentives range from free tools and test handsets to funds for software devlopment and marketing.
In some cases, Microsoft is providing revenue guarantees, and will make up the difference if apps don't sell as well as expected, Brix is quoted as saying.
Businessweek further cites "five people with knowledge of the matter" as saying at least four app makers have been approached by Microsoft and offered financial incentives in cash, assistance with development costs or revenue guarantees in exchange for having apps ready at or near the release of Windows Phone 7. The people declined to be named because the incentive terms are confidential, the story added.
Microsoft is generally agreed to need help when it comes to rebooting its mobile OS franchise. As cited by our sister site eWEEK.com, CEO Steve Ballmer admitted at the company's Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) -- currently under way in Washington, D.C -- that "We missed a generation on the phone. We missed almost a whole release cycle."
And in his WPC keynote today, Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner is said to have added, "This has been tough. This is a low light. But in the October/November time frame the game will change."
The BusinessWeek story quotes ABI Research analyst Kevin Burden as saying that paying developers is "a good strategy" for Microsoft: "In no way do they want to say, Trust us, there will be apps at some point. If that means paying developers, so be it. Its a good strategy for them."
Make-or-break features?
Earlier this week, Microsoft released a new "close to final" beta version of its Windows Phone Developer Tools, including an updated emulator designed to let developers test their WP7 applications in the absence of actual hardware. (Within hours, hackers had cracked the emulator for general use, allowing anyone with a Windows 7 or Vista desktop computer to try out the latest build of the smartphone OS.)
The company also revealed what could be a make-or-break feature for Windows Phone 7: A Windows Phone Live website that, it's said, will give users a "central place" to see pictures theyve published, view their Windows Live calendar and contacts, exchange OneNote files, and push other information from their phones to the web.
The Windows Phone Live site, which will apparently be free to WP7 device owners, will also offer 25GB of online SkyDrive storage. It will also host the "Find My Phone service, which allows people to find and manage a missing phone with map, ring, lock and erase capabilities right from your PC and all for free," Microsoft says.
Microsoft adds that WP7 devices will be further integrated with the cloud via hosted Exchange accounts for email, SharePoint servers for enterprise document storage, and Xbox live for online gaming. In addition, WP7 will connect via Wi-Fi to Zune software running on PCs, for transfer of music, video, high-resolution photos, and other large files, the company says.
Meanwhile, as reported by eWEEK's Nicholas Kolakowski, Microsoft told WPC attendees that the company's online marketplace for Windows Phone 7 will be "transparent," hopefully avoiding the missteps and controversies that have plagued Apple's App Store for its iPhone.
"Philosophically our approach with Marketplace is in line with what's existed for Windows Phone traditionally, and for Windows Mobile 6.5," Casey McGee, a spokesperson for Microsoft, is said to have told eWEEK in a July 13 interview. "What we've sought to do with Windows Phone is be very transparent -here are what the fees are going to look like, etc., and here are the guidelines."
"There's a lot of subjectivity in the guidelines, and there will be judgment calls, but there will be an attempt to be consistent," McGee is reported as saying. "The process is important because it tells the developer that if they invest the time, the app will be approved."
Despite the new Windows Phone 7 features, tools, and incentives, some developers are still reportedly unimpressed, however.
IDC analyst Al Hilwa is quoted by InfoWorld as saying, "One challenge ... is that much of the developer excitement in the Apple world has shifted to the iPad, creating a problem for Microsoft where their smartphone apps have no sister tablet to run on." (We complained about precisely this problem in our June "10 ways Windows can succeed in today's tablet arena".)
Further information
The Bloomberg Businessweek story about Microsoft paying developers to ship Windows Phone 7 applications may be found here.
eWEEK coverage of Windows Phone 7-related announcements at this week's WPC can be found here and here.
The InfoWorld story about some developers still being "tepid" about Windows Phone 7 may be found here.
