Andre Yoskowitz
22 Apr 2009 18:21
Confirming rumors that have been flying around for days, China Mobile will be launching their own application store dubbed the Mobile Market sometime before the end of 2009.
Third parties can add apps for multiple operating systems and it will be easily accessible through the one store.
Although the exact release date isn't known, it is expected that the launch will coincide with the launch of the Chinese TD-SCDMA standard for 3G, which will allow for speeds fast enough for downloading of applications.
The application store may have been another roadblock in negotiations between Apple and China Mobile over bringing the iPhone to China. Apple wants to be the sole distributor for applications on the iPhone, but clearly China Mobile has different plans.
Making this service much different from Apple's App Store however is the freedom for developers to put out apps for all OSs, including Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian.