Microsoft is set to launch web-ready version of their Windows Phone Marketplace in a desperate effort to take on Apple and Google who were last night got told by a US Senate committee that they have to establish better clear app privacy policies.
Microsoft is set to launch web-ready version of their Windows Phone Marketplace in a desperate effort to take on Apple and Google who were last night got told by a US Senate committee that they have to establish better clear app privacy policies.
With the new Microsoft offering customers will be able to browse a catalogue, view screenshots, read app details and reviews, and then pay for and download selected apps and games. Marketplace uses Bing Virtual Search to help a user pore through the available apps.
Electronista said that it It will support varied purchasing, including try-before-you-buy and billingt systems run by the likes of Telstra, Optus and Vodafone.
Purchases can be paid for using the user’s credit card information stored in their Windows Live ID account. Microsoft has added one-click social network sharing of app information through e-mail, Facebook or Twitter, which the company believes will help build up Marketplace’s popularity.
Marketplace will be available when Mango ships later this year and follows months after Android Market and BlackBerry App World were available on the web. Apple allows showing individual apps on the web, but not the whole App Store. [via Windows Phone]
US Senator Al Franken in a letter to Apple and Google said that consumers who bought from the App Store or Android Market should be given an explanation of what information the apps wanted and who was getting the data. The non-binding request would give a “clearer understanding” of what was happening and avoid instances of apps getting more than they needed.
Neither Apple or Google have responded.
