Source: Xinhua
02-16-2009 12:25
Special Report: Tech MaxBEIJING, Feb. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Microsoft Corp will announce service plans on Monday for easier applications loading onto smartphones with its own chain store plan revealed last week, the company said.
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| Microsoft Corp will announce service plans on Monday for easier applications loading onto smartphones with its own chain store plan revealed last week. The move is aiming to counter the rising popularity of Apple's mobile App Store, one of the surprise hits of the consumer technology world last year. (File Photo) |
The move is aiming to counter the rising popularity of Apple's mobile App Store, one of the surprise hits of the consumer technology world last year.
Microsoft's chief executive Steve Ballmer is also set to announce a new user interface for devices running Microsoft’s software, including "touch" features to rival some of the functions of Apple's iPhone.
Microsoft revealed plans to open several Microsoft branded retail outlets on Thursday and named David Porter, a 25-year veteran of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., as its corporate vice president of retail stores.
The move follows Apple Inc's successful foray into retailing, but comes at a time when consumer spending is under pressure due to the recession. The company did not say how many stores it was looking to open, or when, or which products would be available, which is to be decided by David Porter.
However, with the Microsoft version of an App Store still some way from being launched, and a more complete overhaul of the Windows Mobile platform delayed until next year, the announcements will do little in the short term to counter Apple's early lead in the latest generation of mobile technology.
"Apple has raised the bar for other device makers and platforms," said Andrew Lacy, co-founder of Tapulous, maker of the popular Tap Tap Revenge game for Apple's iPhone.
His comments were echoed by other developers who have flocked to the Apple platform in recent months.
The App Store, launched on iTunes last summer, acts as a store front through which developers can either sell or give away their software, with Apple keeping 30 percent of any sales. Thanks to its unexpected early success, Apple now makes the App Store a centrepiece of its marketing for the iPhone and the iPod touch, which can also be used to access the store.
Google has responded with the launch of a rival store, known as Android Marketplace, while Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, has said it will have one by this spring.
Microsoft can count on wide support among developers, thanks to the ubiquity of the Windows operating system. But developers who have scored early success in App Store warn that Microsoft still has a long way to go to match the leap ahead that Apple has taken with the iPhone and the App Store. Also, with a growing number of mobile software platforms, Windows will have to fight for attention.
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Editor:Yang Jie
