Erstellt am: 28. 5. 2009 - 11:07 Uhr
Today's webtip: Appsolutely wrong
Apple
The iPhone App Store was another one of those aha moments. It's not something entirely new, but it came out at the right time and place with the right features and the right amount of hype to make it an amazing success. After using it once, I was left wondering why Microsoft or Nokia never came out with something similar.
Finding and installing WM apps used to be a nightmare. Especially for Apple users. It took years to be able to find software you could install directly to your mobile device, most developers having chosen to require a trip to your computer and a round of active sync rather than just giving up the app files.
And then you had to hunt down the apps. A few companies managed to put together some useful online stores, but they too were difficult to use from the device itself. Nokia and Palm were a bit better, and Nokia has had their download option available for ages. It wasn't purty and didn't really make it easier to actually buy stuff but it was better than nothing.
And now Nokia has finally opened up their latest app store for end users. It's an exciting leap into a brave new world full of...
Nokia
Fail.
According to Nokia users anyway. I scrapped my nokia years ago so I only have web reviews to go on, and they aren't looking good.
Windows Mobile on the other hand has announced their app store, opened it to developers, and is completely unavailable to end users. For now. But that doesn't mean WM people can't enjoy an app store of sorts. PocketGear, one of the oldschool mobile software centers has made their own AppStore.
Of sorts. It's an app you download, in a CAB, which ends up being a link to a webpage.
A very ugly webpage with only a handful of free apps and loads of other apps running between $14.99 and $69.99. Yes, Windows Mobile will cost you a bit more to run in the long run. And the screenshots showing a bunch of software categories? Mockups. You can either do a search or wade through all non-free software 4 titles at a time.
So that was fun. Nothing like spending some time with windows 3.1 to make everything else seem useful. Now if you will excuse me, I am going to go try to convince Skyfire that I really honestly do have an internet connection. If that works I might actually be able to write a review of it...