Windows Phone Marketplace to be rebranded as Windows Phone Store?
Microsoft looks set to rebrand its Windows Phone Marketplace, and probably intends to call it – Windows Phone Store. The new name was spotted at the recently introduced Windows Phone Dev Center, which featured a caption reading : “Join Dev Center and publish your app in the Windows Phone Store.” The company, however, has not yet confirmed the change.
It is being speculated that the move to switch from Marketplace to the Windows Phone Store is part of the company’s attempt to simplifying branding ahead of the launch of its Windows 8 platform, which has a Windows Store of its own. So, a Windows Phone Store for Windows Phone 8 sounds sensible enough.
Chances of the name change being an error are quite low, as several pages on the Windows Phone Dev Center website refer the app store as “Windows Phone Store”. The name, however, has not changed on the official website Windows Phone Marketplace.
According to Microsoft, the new Dev Center is aimed at making “Windows Phone app development faster and more profitable,” integrating with a slick new look and easy to browse menu options. This, coupled with infrastructure upgrades, is most likely to enhance the “overall site performance and reliability.” To know more about the new Microsoft Dev Center, click here.
It’s not the first time mobile apps stores have changed their names. Recently, Android Market was rebranded as Google Play store, while Nokia’s Ovi Store became Nokia Store. The rebranding, if implemented, will certainly help Microsoft unify its products and services in a single ecosystem.
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