Friday, August 6, 2010

Microsoft's Mobile App Match Wants Your Number

Strip out the references to mobile applications, and some of the text for Microsoft's new Mobile App Match reads suspiciously like a dating Website. "You're not picky. You've just got standards," reads one headline. "Mobile App Match is putting the chemistry back in your Marketplace."Is that a subtle jab at Android's somewhat anarchic Marketplace? Or equally subtle acknowledgment that Microsoft's mobile apps, well, haven't exactly sizzled like those in Apple's App Store? Is this Microsoft's equivalent of standing in developers' and smartphone users' parking lot with a boombox blasting "In Your Eyes"?I hope not, at least on that last part. If I had to think of John Cusack every time I downloaded another app to my phone, I'd have to stab myself in the eye with a spork. The site's mission, in its own words, is "bringing the people who build Windows phone apps together with the people who seek them for personal use--to start conversations, exchange ideas, and see what develops."Developers can post apps and videos to the site, and read users' comments, in order to build and refine their products. For their part, potential app users can "post ideas and videos to influence mobile app builders," vote on ideas and finished apps, and connect with developers to advocate ideas.The "Ideas" page, for example, lists user-generated concepts such as "MySQL/SQLite Manager," "Cross Platform MMO," an app with maps of different ski resorts that leverages GPS and "Home Theater Remote Control." Zombies are a hot topic. Some links on the site are broken, which is somewhat disconcerting to say the least.Based on these ideas' relatively low number of votes, I can't help but think this site isn't highly trafficked yet. That's not surprising, considering that Windows Phone 7 is still a few months away from (scheduled) release, and Windows Mobile 6.5 has begun to enter that limbo reserved for last-generation tech. (Yes, I know that a number of enterprises and SMBs will continue to use Mobile 6.5, as it ties into their legacy apps; but even those diehard organizations will likely be considering a change--either to Phone 7 or another smartphone OS--sooner rather than later.)But that traffic could rise precipitously, once Windows Phone 7 becomes more of a tangible reality for consumers. Microsoft has already been encouraging developers to build apps for the platform, offering all sorts of assistance; the company itself hasn't yet predicted how many Phone 7 apps will be present in its Marketplace at launch.I think this site is a good idea, but it'll take Windows Phone 7's release to see whether it has legs.
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