Symbian App Store Goes Live

Author	Gordon Kelly
Published	28th Oct 2009

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In the ongoing war between Android, BlackBerry OS and iPhone OS it seems the world has forgotten about who is still numero uno: Symbian. And this old dog has just learnt an essential new trick...

Using its annual Symbian Exchange and Exposition 2009 (SEE 2009) show, the platform has announced its 'Horizon' app store has gone live today with the first 50 apps now through the door (including YouTube, Twitter and Qik cllients). The plan is "to process thousands of applications in 2010".

Of course many Symbian platforms already have their own application stores, most notably Nokia's Ovi, the Samsung Application Store and Sony Ericsson's PlayNow arena. The good news then is all of these, plus China Mobile's Mobile Market and AT&T's Media Mall will all support Horizon and integrate its applications directly into their offerings.

"We recognize that developers face many challenges in bringing their products to market on Symbian devices," admitted Symbian Foundation executive director Lee Williams. "In particular, the diversity of application stores in our ecosystem increases the burden on developers by requiring multiple submission and review processes. But this diversity can also offer an advantage over competitors' closed systems, where applications sometimes receive arbitrary or commercially motivated rejections. Symbian Horizon retains this advantage while reducing the burden by becoming a conduit to multiple stores, helping developers reach the largest global mobile market in the world more efficiently."

The challenge in a nutshell: divide and conquer or divide and fracture...

Symbian promises the Symbian Signed process will also be revised over the next few months, providing developers with the option of automatically adding an application to the Symbian Horizon Directory. Once ready, developers will be able to register online and edit their application and developer profiles, providing both stores and consumers with complete information about their products.

So can Horizon catch up with the likes of Apple's App Store which recently passed 100,000 app mark this week? It's a monstrous task, but if anyone has the market share to do it then it's Symbian...

In related news Deutsche Telekom is launching its popular software download site, Softwareload in the UK after its success in Germany. In short, the service bundles independently produced software into a single site and allows users not only to download and purchase applications, but also store them in the cloud so they can be transferred easily between different computers. The site has seen more than 20 million downloads in Germany and houses products such as Nuance PDF apps, MAGIX photo and Nero burning software.

Anything that makes life easier is fine by us...

Update 06/11/09: Softwareload is now live and has launched with a 50 per cent off sale. Bonus!

Links:
Symbian Horizon Official Blog Post
Symbian Apps

Latest 4 of 6 Comments

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dean.collins said on 28th October 2009

When is someone going to open up a multiplatform mobile appstore?

Ex.

http://iphone.mobileappstore.com

and
more

drdark said on 28th October 2009

My concern is actually the rate of expansion and risk for the devs themselves. I have so many reasons for this based on articles I've read over the last few weeks and back to a who... more

Vagn Henning said on 28th October 2009

Wohoo, I can get Bubble Wrap for my Satio! I almost don't regret buying it. Almost. I think that might also partly explain why Symbian is still on top: Morons like me that don't re... more

MrGodfrey said on 29th October 2009

I don't consider Symbian sloppy at all - Android may be more promising, but I certainly wouldn't swap my Samsung for an iPhone. This App store is good news; it will be very helpful... more

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