Microsoft to bring forward app store plans

Microsoft has suggested that the Windows Marketplace for Mobile could launch sooner than the previously publicised Christmas 2009 release date.

A holding page for the app store informs visitors that the marketplace is “coming soon” and that there will be free and premium apps that will be downloadable directly to Windows Mobile powered devices.

Speaking to pocket-lint.co.uk last month at Mobile World Congress, James Blamey, group product manager for Microsoft Mobile Communications said, “We currently have 20,000 applications available for Windows Mobile devices, it would be good to get that choice to phone users easily.”

Around two thirds of the apps available on the store are games with the rest being “fun” or “productivity suite” software.

With its PC gaming credentials and huge install base, the Microsoft Windows Marketplace for Mobile is likely to be massively alluring to any app-writers looking to break into a huge and as yet untapped market

There's been no official announcement or update of the Christmas 2009 release date but with the holding page up already we'd be surprised if the store's launch didn't coincide with the launch of the early Windows Mobile 6.5 devices pencilled in for launch later in the year.