Microsoft is pushing the kill switch on app downloads through the Zune PC software. Instead, from now on if you want to download Windows Phone apps you’ll need to do it on your device or using the web-based Windows Phone Marketplace. The move makes sense, because the Zune PC software wasn’t really designed to be an app store or app management service. It was originally… Read more »

There are over half a million apps available for iOS, and nearly as many for Google Android phones and tablets. While the Windows Phone Marketplace is still trailing far behind, Microsoft’s app store is playing catch up. According to Microsoft, there are now more than 70,000 Windows phone apps available from download from the Windows Marketplace. In fact, there are about 300 new apps showing… Read more »

Microsoft has started pushing out Windows Phone 7.5 Mango software. This means that sometime in the next week or so there’s a good chance existing Windows Phone 7 users will be prompted to download and install an update. There are plenty of new features coming in Mango, including tighter integration with Microsoft’s SkyDrive cloud services, improved social networking and music features, and turn-by-turn driving directions…. Read more »

The Windows Phone Marketplace is expanding at a pretty decent clip. While there aren’t nearly as many third party apps available for Windows Phone 7 as for Android or iOS yet, there are more than 25,000 apps in the Marketplace according to windowsphoneapplist. That number may be a little off, since other trackers have different figures. But WinRumors notes that it was just a few… Read more »

Microsoft is letting developers know that the Windows Phone Marketplace will no longer accept Windows Mobile 6.x apps starting on July 15th. Developers will also no longer be able to change the prices or other information in the Marketplace after the 15th. This isn’t quite the end of the road for Windows Mobile 6.x users though. You’ll be able to continue downloading apps from the… Read more »

When Microsoft rolls out the Mango update for Windows Phone 7 later this year, the company will also introduce a new web-based version of the Windows Phone Market. This will allow users to browser the Marketplace using a desktop web browser, read reviews, and purchase and download apps. You’ll be able to login to the web site with a Windows Live ID to purchase apps… Read more »

Microsoft will offer the Mango update as a free upgrade for all Windows Phone 7 users this fall. But developers can already get their hands on tools to start writing apps for the new platform. Microsoft has released a new set of developer tools for Mango which are available for download starting today. Here are some of the new things that apps can do in… Read more »

Windows Phone 7 may not be able to run hundreds of thousands of apps like iOS or Google Android, but as the new kid on the smartphone the third party ecosystem around the platform is growing quickly. Microsoft published some interesting stats about the number of third party developers and apps in the Window Phone Marketplace this week. There are currently 36,000 registered developers who… Read more »

The number of apps and games available for Windows Phone 7 continues to grow. The folks at Windows Phone App List say there are now over 9,000 free and paid titles available from the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace. And some top tier mobile games including Angry Birds and Doodle Jump are coming soon. Now it looks like we can add I Love Katamari to that… Read more »

Developers have found a vulnerability in the Windows Phone Marketplace DRM software which makes it possible to download paid apps from the marketplace for free, crack the security and either install the app on a phone or distribute the cracked app. The folks at WP Central have put together a video showing how the security can be bypassed — but the tools will not be… Read more »