Microsoft is an aggressive beast.  Not only are they paying developers cash up-front to begin developing games for WP7, but now they are hosting an application suggestion contest.  Here is what Microsoft’s site says they’re doing:

Pitch us your idea of the dream app you’ve been waiting for.  If it gets the votes, we’ll build your app and make it available on Marketplace as a FREE download for Windows Phone 7 shortly after its Holiday 2010 launch.  We’ll also throw in $5,000 and a new Windows Phone 7 device!

Grab a camcorder, camera phone, or flex your writing skills – get creative.  Tell us about the app you want to see on Windows Phone 7.  We can’t wait to hear what you have to say.

Contest ends July 8, 2010.

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Windows Phone 7 App Contest

Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 team made an aggressive move last week in the mobile OS market. In an attempt to bring popular mobile applications to Windows Phone 7, Microsoft is offering iPhone Developers CASH to develop games for WP7. While it is still technically a “rumor” because Microsoft will not confirm, many popular iPhone developers have been surfacing their [new] relationships with Microsoft. Multiple sources are reporting that Microsoft is approaching popular iPhone developers with ‘significant cash offers’, in order to motivate them to switch allegiances.

Microsoft’s strategy is genius. In order for WP7 to be [more of] a success upon its release date (still unknown, but i’m guessing July), they need GAMES to compete with iPhone. Cash is King to mobile developers. Why develop apps for the iPhone and wait for revenue, when Microsoft will pay you up-front for your work? If you were approached by Microsoft and get asked to switch mobile platforms, would you do it? What if there was a $10,000 cash sign-on bonus? I’ll answer for you: yes you would switch. Microsoft knows that mobile applications are only as good as the developer that creates them. With this in mind, Microsoft most likely started this campaign as an aggressive move to gain back mobile market share (mostly from Apple). This is very similar to dangling a carrot in front of a horse. I’m not at all trying to compare developers to horses, no that can’t be my main point.  Well in a way, I am. Cash is something that everyone wants, and with the right amount you can “make friends” with almost anybody… even Apple fanboys.

So how many games does the iPhone actually have? Hovering around 200,000 as of this post, the iPhone blows Android, Palm, and Windows Mobile 6 right out of the water. Palm is like a little firecracker that will make your ears ring. Android is like TNT, it can cause some damage.  But the iPhone, at least at this moment in time, is like a Tsar Bomb relative to the other mobile operating systems in regards to available applications.

The competition is getting heated, and it’s getting more and more obvious to consumers like us.  Overall, I’m content with Microsoft paying developers to switch from the iPhone to WP7.  It shows me that Microsoft has not, and will not, bow down to the iPhone.  But at the end of the day, the winner will be the platform that has the most applications available for its users.

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Microsoft Throws Cash at Developers

Enjoy.

Netflix for Windows Phone 7

AppAcelerator is a company that helps web developers create mobile applications. The company recently polled over 1,000 of their regular developers to see what mobile OS they were most interested in developing for. Surprisingly (kind of), Windows Mobile 7 is increasing in developer popularity. Developer interest spiked from 13% to 36% over the past couple months. The iPhone is still ahead, but they were the first to the plate, giving them the advantage. Microsoft is pulling it’s weight. But they need to keep the momentum if they want to succeed.

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WP7 Increasingly Popular Among Developers

Windows CE 7, aka "Chelan"

This article has been proven to be false.  Microsoft’s new Windows Phone mobile operating system will not be backwards-compatible with WM6.

This is very exciting news for me. Why? Because I’ve spent over $300 on Windows Mobile 6 applications over the past two years! Many confirmed internet sources are saying that WM7 is based on an improved version of Windows CE (nicknamed “Chelan”). Some people may be turned off to this fact because people seem to think that Windows CE was a lost cause since inception. This is simply not true, guys. In my opinion, yes Windows CE is antiquated. But a newer version means a newer version. This isn’t going to be a 6.5 to 6.6 update… this is Seven.

The upside to the backward-compatibility news is that:

1. Your WM6 apps will work with WM7,
2. We KNOW Internet Explorer 7 for mobile will be improved, and
3. We KNOW flash support will be improved.

That’s really the only thing most consumers are asking for right now (a better browsing experience). The only sad news is that ActiveSync isn’t going away .

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Windows Mobile 7 Backwards-Compatible with 6.x