Microsoft News Tracker

Microsoft has apparently noticed that Apple has been making serious cash from their iPhone App Store and is planning their own marketplace for Windows Mobile applications if Long Zheng’s reading of some incautious Microsoft job postings is correct. When you see things like:

Job Title: Senior Product Manager - Skymarket
This is a unique opportunity and time of rapid change in the mobile industry for a Senior Product Manager in the Mobile Communications Services team to drive the launch of a v1 marketplace service for Windows Mobile.

Key Responsibilities include the following:

• Definition of the product offering, pricing, business model and policies that will make the Windows Mobile marketplace “the place to be” for developers wishing to distribute and monetize their Windows Mobile applications
• …

there isn’t much doubt. Hit the link for more and Zheng’s observations that Windows Mobile apps are currently quite numerous, but Microsoft has never previously seized the opportunity to organize a marketplace for their sale. There’s no firm indication of date, but Skymarket might well accompany Windows Mobile 7 (codenamed “Photon”) in 4Q08 or 1H09 although the former would seem to be a stretch considering they haven’t hired the staff yet.