# Windows Phone market passes 80,000 apps



## editor (Apr 4, 2012)

> Microsoft's Windows Phone Marketplace now has more than 80,000 mobile apps, with new ones being added at a rate of 340 apps per day, according to a technology blog.
> All About Windows Phone said in a post yesterday, that as of April 1, there were 82,234 apps published from some 20,327 different developers.
> 
> According to the post, it took just under five months for the number of developers who published Windows Phones apps to double. It added that the 50,000-app mark was reached on Dec. 27 last year, the 60,000 mark on Jan. 22, and the 70,000 mark on Feb. 23.


 
Slowly but steadily, this platform is becoming a force to be reckoned with...


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## Kid_Eternity (Apr 6, 2012)

Nice. It's looking like all those predictions of it trouncing Android and iOS by 2015 may just come true. Really hope it kicks ass, the mobile market really needs a third player now RIM is pretty much dying on it's knees...


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## beesonthewhatnow (Apr 6, 2012)

I still don't know anybody that owns one though. In fact I don't think I've even seen anyone using one outside of a demo in a phone shop.


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## Kid_Eternity (Apr 6, 2012)

beesonthewhatnow said:


> I still don't know anybody that owns one though. In fact I don't think I've even seen anyone using one outside of a demo in a phone shop.


 
I know a couple people, and have seen one or two on my travels too...it'll be a different picture within a year though as more handsets are released.


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## Sunray (Apr 7, 2012)

This is primarily because you only need 1/2 decent PC to develop for it. You can develop for it in Silverlight, using Expression Blend which makes it really easy, if you do that properly it will even run on Windows 8. You can also just use Visual Studio Express, C++ and XNA for game types. MSDN has a massive amount of tutorials from beginner up. The barrier to entry if you've a PC and done a bit of coding is practically zero.

This is in stark contrast to Apples 80 quid a year dev license, having to go out and buy a Mac and then learn how to use X-Code, iPhone development, OSX and Objective-C.

Its only because Apple had such a lead on the Smart phone industry and a decent product and that user friendly App store that they have so many applications.


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## grit (Apr 7, 2012)

Sunray said:
			
		

> Its only because Apple had such a lead on the Smart phone industry and a decent product and that user friendly App store that they have so many applications.



This made me laugh, you say "only "and then list three things that demonstrate they created the market and executed at such a high level that no one has touched then yet.


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## flutterbye (Apr 7, 2012)

Surely it is the quality of the apps that matter not the quantity (the girth not the length). I feel some of these app markets are bloated with multiple inferior copies of an original idea. I have tried lots of different kinds of apps and ended up removing many because of annoying adverts or battery life.
I am about to go in, windows mobile looks pretty nice, and nokia have always made high quality, sturdy, long lasting hardware, while they Nokia have had to shrink in size the fact their focus is on a much smaller number of handsets is a positive.
Microsoft and Nokia do seem to have spent a lot of time getting this one right and I suspect their new phones and platform will be a success maybe eating into the blackberry market initially, also I suspect they wont try to pull tricks like collecting data from their users like apple and google, they have a long record in the industry and have never once pulled this kind of trick.


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## FridgeMagnet (Apr 7, 2012)

flutterbye said:


> maybe eating into the blackberry market initially


Hardly think _that's_ going to be very difficult.

http://www.slashgear.com/rim-considers-sale-of-company-while-execs-bail-06221951/


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## Badgers (Apr 7, 2012)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Hardly think _that's_ going to be very difficult.
> 
> http://www.slashgear.com/rim-considers-sale-of-company-while-execs-bail-06221951/


 
Always thought they were the poor relation but did not know things have dived so much.


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## Sunray (Apr 12, 2012)

grit said:


> This made me laugh, you say "only "and then list three things that demonstrate they created the market and executed at such a high level that no one has touched then yet.


 
At the user level.

At the developer level its a massive pain in the arse.


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## moochedit (Apr 12, 2012)

beesonthewhatnow said:


> I still don't know anybody that owns one though. In fact I don't think I've even seen anyone using one outside of a demo in a phone shop.


 
A few sales people at my work have got htc windows 7 phones. They are actually not that bad (better than the old windows 6 phones with styluses) although i prefer my android phone.


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## FridgeMagnet (Apr 13, 2012)

Sales.


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## Kanda (Apr 13, 2012)

Prediction: MS Fail.


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## teuchter (Apr 13, 2012)

flutterbye said:


> Microsoft and Nokia do seem to have spent a lot of time getting this one right


 
Nokia have been all over the shop recently, and have managed to lose the loyalty of the majority of their former smartphone users, and Microsoft are famous for creating horrible software.

It's hard to believe they will manage to get much "right" between them.


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## editor (Apr 13, 2012)

teuchter said:


> Nokia have been all over the shop recently, and have managed to lose the loyalty of the majority of their former smartphone users, and Microsoft are famous for creating horrible software.


Not any more, they're not. Windows 7 is an excellent OS and Windows Mobile has picked up some very glowing reviews. It looks to be a really interesting mobile OS.


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## teuchter (Apr 13, 2012)

Windows 7 is an ugly visual catastrophie just like every other version of Windows.


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## editor (Apr 13, 2012)

You clearly have no idea what you're talking about.


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## Kid_Eternity (Apr 13, 2012)

teuchter said:


> Windows 7 is an ugly visual catastrophie just like every other version of Windows.


 
Windows OSes are never the prettiest of things but 7 is definitely the best looking so far, very nice in fact but more importantly it's easily the nicest to actually use and the most stable (I've literally never had one blue screen of death, and only a few freezes or multi window cloning). My new work machine has it and flies like the wind and is a joy to use!


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## Kid_Eternity (Apr 13, 2012)

But back on topic, saw the new Nokia advert yesterday, have to say they did a good job of selling the phone and OS, key emphasis on it being different from the rest were clearly made...


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## Crispy (Apr 13, 2012)

Sunray said:


> This is primarily because you only need 1/2 decent PC to develop for it. You can develop for it in Silverlight, using Expression Blend which makes it really easy, if you do that properly it will even run on Windows 8. You can also just use Visual Studio Express, C++ and XNA for game types. MSDN has a massive amount of tutorials from beginner up. The barrier to entry if you've a PC and done a bit of coding is practically zero.
> 
> This is in stark contrast to Apples 80 quid a year dev license, having to go out and buy a Mac and then learn how to use X-Code, iPhone development, OSX and Objective-C.


 
So what you're saying is if you're a windows developer, writing apps for WP7 is easy, whereas if you're a mac developer, writing apps for iOS is easy. Revelatory


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## souljacker (Apr 13, 2012)

My wife has got a Nokia Lumia 800. Before that she had an HTC Hero that she slagged off constantly. She found Android too techy and felt things weren't set up properly for how she used a phone. All she needs is Facebook, email, a well set out contacts app, Angry Birds and a decent camera. The Lumia had all that and is costing her less than £15 a month.

It's when you grab that slice of the market that the money starts rolling in. I predict another year of losses for Nokia before massive profits return.


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## teuchter (Apr 13, 2012)

Kid_Eternity said:


> Windows OSes are never the prettiest of things but 7 is definitely the best looking so far, very nice in fact but more importantly it's easily the nicest to actually use and the most stable (I've literally never had one blue screen of death, and only a few freezes or multi window cloning). My new work machine has it and flies like the wind and is a joy to use!


 
Whatever, but I can't be doing with having those Microsoft typefaces in my everyday life


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## mwgdrwg (Apr 13, 2012)

Currently the top story on The Register:

*'Nokia on 'brink of failure', warns analyst'*

Seems like there's a lot of confusion about wether or not Windows Phone 7 apps will work on Windows 8 phones.


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## editor (Apr 13, 2012)

teuchter said:


> Whatever, but I can't be doing with having those Microsoft typefaces in my everyday life


What's wrong with their typefaces?


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## teuchter (Apr 13, 2012)

Their typefaces just represent corporate mediocrity and their logo is rubbish.


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## teuchter (Apr 13, 2012)

*vomit*


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## Crispy (Apr 13, 2012)

The win7 UI font is Segoe UI, which I think is pretty good:


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## Crispy (Apr 13, 2012)

teuchter said:


> *vomit*


 
That is not a representative screenshot of win7


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## editor (Apr 13, 2012)

Crispy said:


> That is not a representative screenshot of win7


Of course it's not, but I guess he's desperate to try and prove his feeble point. It's not even Win7.


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## teuchter (Apr 13, 2012)

Gimme a "representative" screenshot then.

Crispy, I disagree about the typeface. I think it's feeble and slightly awkward. It looks like the kind of typeface you'd see on a wall display in a primary school, if they didn't have comic sans to hand.


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## editor (Apr 20, 2012)

This may could be rather important for the platform:


> Developer earns over $1,000 per day with a Windows Phone game
> While Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform may not be as big as Apple and Google’s offerings, it is still possible for app developers to find success on the emerging operating system. A year ago, FourBros Studio launched a free game called Taptitude on the Windows Phone Marketplace. The game, as of today, has earned the company over $100,000 in revenue and boasts more than 300,000 users, _Business Insider_ reported on Thursday. Interestingly enough, the company’s revenue has spiked since the launch of Nokia’s Windows Phones. FourBros Studio uses Microsoft’s pubCenter, along with a service called AdDuplex, to sell advertisements on Taptitude, which is now making roughly $1,000 a day and averaging over 1 million daily impressions.


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## editor (Apr 20, 2012)

teuchter said:


> Gimme a "representative" screenshot then.


Here's a very basic installation which sure looks better than that totally irrelevant screen grab you posted up of an entirely different OS. 







Or you can make it look like this: 






or this:





Or this:


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## grit (Apr 21, 2012)

editor said:


> This may could be rather important for the platform:


There is a lot to be said for being a big fish in a small pond.


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