Microsoft on Tuesday announced on its Windows Phone Blog two changes regarding its Windows Phone Marketplace that will “help pave the way for new store features and new apps in the months ahead.” The Redmond-based company will be removing the option to shop for Windows Phone apps from the Zune Desktop software and will now require handsets to be running Windows Phone 7.5 to buy and download new apps, or update existing ones. The Zune Music Marketplace will remain open, and the software will be used to back up music and photos, and to install updates on the Zune HD.

[Via WMPowerUser]

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Microsoft’s Windows Phone Marketplace has reportedly reached another milestone according to Chinese website Sina. The company’s chairman and chief executive officer for the Greater China region Simon Leung said that the mobile platform is now home to over 100,000 registered developers who have made more than 70,000 apps available in 63 different markets. The number of apps in the Windows Phone Marketplace, however, is still a relatively small figure when compared to Apple’s App Store, which boasts more than 500,000 apps, and the 450,000 apps in the Google Play marketplace.

[Via TechCrunch]

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Microsoft’s Windows Phone Marketplace is reportedly now home to more than 50,000 applications. That’s a relatively small figure taking into consideration that Apple’s iTunes App Store now boasts more than 500,000 apps and the Android Market is estimated to offer almost as many. However, it is double the amount of applications that were available just five months ago, in July, when the Windows Phone Marketplace only offered 25,000 apps. All About Windows Phone, which first reported the milestone and went into great detail showing the app spread, said 17,276 new Windows Phone applications were published in the last 90 days while 8,010 apps were added in the last 30 days. The site also noted that entertainment is the most popular category, with 15% of all Windows Phone applications falling into that group. The entertainment category is followed by books and reference (14%), games (14%) and tools and productivity (15%). All About Windows Phone also estimates that 58% of the apps in the store are free, 14% are paid but come with a free trial and 29% are pay-for only.

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Microsoft will lower its Zune Music Pass from $14.99 per month to $9.99 per month beginning on October 3rd alongside the service’s launch in Canada. The service will now be priced in line with Spotify and similar services. Microsoft’s Zune Marketplace is home to 14 million songs and a Zune Music Pass subscription provides unlimited streaming access to the music. Unlike other services, Zune Music Pass allows subscribers to keep 10 songs per month. Microsoft’s move is no doubt an effort to attract customers who might otherwise but attempted to join a number of competing music subscription options including Spotify, Rdio, Rhapsody and even Apple’s upcoming iCloud service. Zune Music Pass subscribers can access their playlists and library from any Windows Phone, a PC or from an Xbox 360 console.

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While Microsoft was one of the last to launch an app store on Windows Mobile 6, the company will be the first to shut one down as well. Microsoft has alerted Windows Mobile 6 customers that the company plans to shut down the entire service, including the ability for new developers to submit new applications on July 15th. Though customers will still be able to purchase and redownload apps, we’re guessing that’s coming to a close pretty soon as well. Additionally, Microsoft’s My Phone service — the software and service that backs up data on your phone including multimedia — will be going offline as well on August 7th. The goods news is that there’s Windows Phone, and this is a logical step towards shifting consumers over to the new ecosystem.

Thanks, Joshua!

Microsoft’s senior director of the Windows Phone Marketplace, Todd Brix, has announced that Microsoft will launch a new web-based Windows Phone Marketplace for Mango phones. Brix explained that customers will be able to read reviews, view screen shots, and even promote applications on social networks. Purchases can be made with any credit card associated with your Windows Live ID, and you can choose to download the applications over-the-air to your phone. We’ve seen similar interfaces before: Google’s http://market.android.com website already allows Android users to install apps over the air, search for new apps, and more. The Windows Phone Marketplace web store is expected to launch in tandem with Mango, which Microsoft has confirmed will happen this fall.

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Despite early reports that Rovio would push Angry Birds for Windows Phone out of the nest on May 25th,  Microsoft said on Wednesday that the game won’t launch until June 29th. The good news is that there will be plenty of other new titles to hold Windows Phone users over. Hydro Thunder Go will debut on May 25th, Doodle Jump lands on June 1st, geoDefense will launch on June 8th, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 1 will be available on June 15th, and Plants vs Zombies will launch on June 22nd. Microsoft didn’t clarify why it pushed the launch out, but we suspect it’s just in an effort to offer a new game every week. Don’t forget: we’ll be reporting live from Microsoft’s Windows Phone press event in New York City next Tuesday at 10am, where we’ll hear more details on the platform.[Via Mobilized]

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During a meeting with Microsoft VP Joe Belfiore, AllThingsD was able to confirm that Rovio’s smash hit Angry Birds game will be available for Windows Phone 7 devices beginning on May 25th. That will leave BlackBerry OS as the last modern operating system to lack support for the title. Belfiore didn’t comment on how much the game would cost, but we hope it’s in the free to $0.99 range. Rovio has launched a number of seasonal updates to Angry Birds and most recently published Angry Birds Rio. It remains unclear which version will hit the Windows Marketplace.

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According to a recently filed report, nearly 1 million Windows Phone handsets were sold in the month of February alone. Using the same algorithm that successfully predicted when Microsoft hit 1 million units sold, The Next Web estimates that 3.38 million Windows Phone handsets have been sold thus far — 877,000 of which occurred in February of this year. The company’s new mobile operating system, which entered a fairly saturated market place, has posted respectable sales figures since its launch late last year.

Microsoft can also celebrate another, software-related milestone achieved with the Windows Phone ecosystem: 10,000 Marketplace applications. Adding over 1,000 applications in the last two weeks, the Redmond company has pushed its total app count over the five-digit mark. Microsoft officially announced that its mobile store had crossed the 6,000 application threshold back in January of this year. Many Windows Phone users are still waiting for the first major software update to the platform — codenamed NoDo — which is scheduled for release later this month. An subsequent update planned for later in 2011 is scheduled to bring multitasking and support for third-party push notifications to the platform — which should spur application development even further

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The digital rights management (DRM) security used by Microsoft to protect apps in its Windows Phone 7 Marketplace has been cracked, enthusiast blog WPCentral reports. Though the technology needed to do so is not yet in the hands of the general public, the DRM protecting paid applications can now easily be stripped off of apps. If details of the vulnerability used to achieve the DRM crack are made available to the public, unscrupulous programers could use the exploit to develop software that allows users to steal applications and deploy them to Windows Phone 7 devices. Microsoft has not publicly responded to the security hole, though WPCentral claims the company has been made aware of the issue. Hit the break to see Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 Marketplace security being manhandled in a proof-of-concept video demonstration.

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Microsoft is set to reach another mobile milestone Tuesday as its Windows Phone 7 Marketplace passes the 5,000-app mark. The Marketplace reached 4,000 apps just 12 days ago, and it took 20 days to jump from 3,000 to 4,000. At its current pace, the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace could overtake Palm’s webOS App Catalog as soon as next month. Microsoft announced last week that Windows Phone 7 devices sales have topped 1.5 million units globally, and developers clearly see the potential in the company’s emerging platform. Currently, more than 18,000 developers have registered to build apps for Microsoft’s new mobile operating system.

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If you’re waiting for a Windows Phone 7 device on Big Red, we have some encouraging news for you. It appears as though Verizon compatible WP7 applications are starting to make their way into the Windows Phone Marketplace. VZW is rumored to be launching a Windows Phone handset sometime after the New Year, but the presence of these Verizon-specific applications seems to hint that the timeframe could be shortly after January 1st. Anyone have plans to pickup a Windows Phone 7 set from Verizon Wireless?

According to third-party Windows Phone 7 Marketplace monitor WP7applist, Microsoft’s mobile application store is now home to over 4,000 applications. The site, which provides a Web-based interface for searching and browsing Windows Phone 7 apps, shows a current app total of 4,005. Microsoft announced on November 25th that its mobile app market was home to 3,000 apps, so the 4,000-app milestone comes 20 days later. The pace has slowed slightly compared to Microsoft’s jump from 2,000 apps to 3,000, which took just 17 days, but the rate new apps are hitting the Marketplace is still impressive. At its current pace, the number of apps in the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace will surpass the Palm App Catalog some time in the first quarter next year. Palm’s App Catalog launched in June of 2009, and currently offers approximately 5,800 apps.

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When Windows Phone 7 launched in the U.S. earlier this month, Microsoft announced that it already had 2,000 apps and 13,000 developers registered to build software for the platform. Two short weeks later, the proud Redmond giant is boasting of 3,000 apps and 15,000 registered developers. That’s some solid growth for a new, unproven platform. It should also be very encouraging for consumers — yes, established platforms like iOS and Android dwarf a growth rate of 500 apps per week, but mobile developers are spread thin. To know that Windows Phone 7 is drawing a fair amount of developer interest in its infancy is very, very comforting. As we know, Microsoft needs developer support if it hopes to succeed.

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Following concerns that Windows Phone 7 wouldn’t have enough titles support to satisfy the new wave of app-hungry smartphone users, Microsoft confirmed Monday that developer support has exceeded expectations. In a post on The Windows Phone Developer Blog, Microsoft’s Todd Brix announced that the Windows Marketplace for Mobile is now home to approximately 2,000 apps and games compatible with Windows Phone 7 devices. The figure is nearly double the company’s target, which was set last month. Microsoft also announced that the Marketplace is fully open to app submissions, and that it currently has 13,000 registered Windows Phone 7 developers. Windows Phone 7, which launched Monday in the U.S., is Microsoft’s attempt to reclaim consumer interest in its smartphones. Continued developer support is one of several keys to the success of the platform, and Microsoft certainly has an uphill battle ahead of it considering the massive app war chests held by Apple and Google.

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