Despite the slick ad’s from Apple, not everything in the iPhone is brand new. There are however some parts of the device that are new, and have helped make the device the success it is today. One of the more impressive features is the App store.

Being able to load applications onto your smartphone is nothing new, but getting access to those apps through a single store-front is. There have been some attempts in the past (Handango has been trying to do this for years with their InHand application), but Apple decided from day one that the only official source for programs would be the App store.

The App store is not perfect; there are no trial versions of apps, and the browsability of the site is pretty weak, but there is no denying that it makes getting apps on your iPhone much easier than other brands of smartphones. With Windows Mobile you usually have to install each application separately, which also leaves a mess on your desktop PC. Other apps are only delivered in a .CAB format, which requires you to manually install it, something many amateur users simply can’t do.

Microsoft has clearly been paying attention, because a source has discovered that they are working behind the scenes on their own app store called “Skymarket”.

Not much is known about the service yet, and if history repeats itself, it won’t be a big success, but it does show that they understand the hassles of application installs on their devices, and that they plan to do something about it.

(Source: WMPowerUser.com)