News · 14 Mar 2011 · MTW Editorial Team
This is a question I’ve been asking myself ever since the Microsoft & Nokia partnership was announced. The press release stated that “Nokia’s content and application store would be integrated with Microsoft Marketplace for a more compelling consumer experience.” I quickly assumed that this would simply mean that Nokia will have its own section the Windows Phone Marketplace similar to other OEMs and that the Ovi Store which contains Symbian applications will be slowly fazed out in the coming years once Nokia finally ships only Windows Phone based smartphones.
Sounds logical, right? Why would the current Ovi Store be integrated into the Microsoft Marketplace given that it’s only filled with content and applications that are not compatible with Microsoft’s products? Well, I tried to dig around and came across ad Microsoft Job ad that mentions the following:
The Commerce Services development team in Windows Phone Services will develop the service software to power the shared application marketplace for Nokia and Microsoft alliance. You will explore, prototype and design the integration between two marketplaces. Your job will entail creating a consistent set of APIs, workflow systems, and data systems. You will partner with end-user experience teams to deliver seamless developer and end-user experience. You will get exposure to worldwide developer demands hungry to create 1000s of applications for the application marketplaces. Take this job and make history with your awesome contributions.
So what does “shared application marketplace” really mean? Is Nokia going to have its very own Marketplace and not a “section” like other OEMs? I frankly don’t know what to make of this. Will the will Ovi Store infrastructure and content (Symbian stuff included) be moved to Microsoft (remember that Nokia is still planning to ship nearly 150 Symbian handsets this year)? I admit that I’m a bit puzzled. What are your thoughts?
source: Microsoft
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