Apple’s iPhone App store concept was revolutionary…a month ago. But T-Mobile will unleash their own app store this fall in a move that will take Apple’s iPhone app concept and apply it across the entire family of T-Mobile phones. And app developers will have the opportunity to create apps on a variety of platforms as well. T-Mobile is not only expected to debut an Android phone in the near future, but it also has phone’s using Windows Mobile, Java, and Sidekick.
With 31.5 million subscribers using its network, an even half decent execution of a T-Mobile app store could revolutionize the mobile application industry. Remember Apple forecasts the sale of 10 million iPhone’s by the end of 2008, in reality giving them much less influence than T-Mobile could possibly have in pushing other wireless carrier’s to begin opening up their platforms’.
America’s fourth largest wireless provider hasn’t issued a formal statement yet, but we’re expecting something in the coming few weeks. In the meantime, some developer’s are already in the know as to how the application submission system will work. Applications will be submitted online, although how and where remains to be seen. Much like Apple, T-Mobile will offer a revenue-share to developers depending on how much bandwidth the application uses. This is a good thing for GPS app developers as navigational apps will earn much more money than something like a video app which will use more bandwidth. T-Mobile’s system rewards plain ol’ popularity as well. Users will determine which apps are available first; T-Mobile will have no say here.
We’ll be on the lookout for a statement, but in the meantime if you want to get a headstart head over to T-Mobile’s developer site and start tinkering.
