If you have an Omnia i900 and you live in the UK, Italy, or France then listen up, Samsung's Application Store just went live. A quick .CAB file download installs the new Application Store client onto your WinMo handset. From there you have access to about 300 paid (payable by credit card, phone billing "coming soon") and free apps via WiFi or Cellular data connections. Samsung plans to have over "over 2,000" apps in the store by the end of 2009 with support added for the Omnia II I8000 and OmniaLITE B7300 from more than 30 countries planned on an indeterminate timeline. A quick glance through the top paid apps reveals the £3.50 Guitar Hero World Tour and free apps like Evernote and the Skyfire browser -- otherwise, the so-called "Hot" game-heavy, apps look pretty lackluster for the moment. It's also interesting (read: odd) that Skyfire is tagged with an "OS Cetified" (Samsung's misspelling) badge for Windows Mobile while the heavily promoted Guitar Hero remains badge-less. Ah well, it is launch day and we expect these things will get ironed-out soon enough. Pics and highly conceptualized App Store experience demonstration after the break.

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Now that Samsung's standardized on the TouchWiz interface across its entire touchscreen line -- dumbphone and smartphone alike -- they've created a fertile playground that offers developers the opportunity to reach a good chunk of the world's second largest phone manufacturer's devices. A dedicated software development kit for TouchWiz is now available direct from Samsung, and since your average code monkey doesn't necessarily have access to fifteen different phones running multiple versions of every platform Sammy supports, they're also offering up their Virtual Device Lab that'll let devs test their wares on everything the company has on tap. For distribution, Samsung will have a number of channels available: its Application Store, a new Widget Gallery that'll premiere on Verizon's Omnia II launching later this year, and -- perhaps most tantalizingly for developers -- the possibility of inclusion right in the frickin' ROM if Samsung really loves what you've done. Considering that you're targeting S60, WinMo, and a wealth of proprietary OS devices in one fell swoop, this could end up being a huge distribution channel.

With both platform makers and hardware makers suddenly deciding to get into the app store game en masse, it feels like we're risking over-saturation -- but that's not deterring LG from launching its plainly-named LG Application Store. The service will be targeting Windows Mobile devices in the Asia-Pacific region first -- Australia and Singapore to start -- with the goal of getting more than 2,000 apps available by year end. LG's making SDKs openly available for interested devs which should spark some interest -- but without a more global launch and with upcoming competition from Windows Marketplace and others, it seems they've got an uphill battle to garner any success.

[Via Akihabara News]

Microsoft has begun laying out plans for its version of the App Store -- dubbed the Windows Marketplace -- with some familiar numbers, and a few unfamiliar tweaks. According to Ina Fried, the company will charge developers an annual fee of $99 to become part of the ecosystem, and an additional $99 for every app they submit (though throughout 2009, they'll have a chance to submit five apps at no cost). A rep from the big M states that the fee is "an acceptable cost of doing business for [software developers] looking to get in front of millions of customers," and justifies the charge on the grounds that Microsoft will "run a rigorous certification process to ensure that the end user's experience is optimal, and that the device and network resources aren't used in a malicious way."

Additionally, the company maintains that the process will offer "complete transparency throughout the application submission process," which indicates the folks in Redmond wouldn't mind courting devs who've been burned by Apple's opaque, confusing, and sometimes unfair system of approval. Besides the flat rates, Microsoft will take 30 percent of earnings from sales just as Apple and Google do -- the lone standout being RIM, who's generously offering 80 percent to devs (though hasn't exactly been blowing doors off hinges with its movement on fostering development). Microsoft's Marketplace will debut with the launch of Windows Mobile 6.5 in Q4 2009, though developers can apparently register come Spring, and start submitting this Summer.

It's looking like Google will do what it can to provide an application store on Android-based handsets (see that "Market" icon above?). As project lead Andy Rubin mentioned at the Google I/O developer conference, "It would be a great benefit to the Android community to provide a place where people can go to safely and securely download content and where a billing system would allow developers to get paid for their effort". So, two things of note here: 1) He wants to avoid malware and untested apps bricking people's phones, and 2) Google would like a little side action on your transaction. Given the open nature of Android, we fully expect many people to find all sorts of random apps online in the dark alleys of the Intertrons, but a sanctioned store like this seems like a no-brainer for those on the straight-and-narrow.