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Microsoft Bans VoIP, Rival Stores At Mobile Market
narramissic writes "Microsoft has identified 12 application types that won't be accepted at the MarketPlace for Mobile store. Among them: VoIP apps, programs that are larger than 10MB, and programs that change the default browser on a device. Overly restrictive? Maybe. But perhaps the clear set of rules (PDF) will prevent confusion similar to what's been encountered over Apple's policy for approving or rejecting applications from the App Store."
Excuse me for saying this, but does anybody else think this is MADNESS!!?? They are not going very far with those restricitions. Follow the way of the Zune.
When my Karma level reaches 0 I feel in piece with the Universe
We're up in arms because they don't want you using other companies products on their stuff?
This seems like a fairly normal corporate model: why give other companies a chance to wow your consumer base?
Meanwhile, Apple's latest evil is barring Trent Reznor from using his music in an app when they sell the uncensored version of his music on itunes. I think Apple is winning the 'my store is more evil' award for now.
The no VoIP will have been imposed by phone companies who don't want their customers making cheap calls. These restrictions don't seem excessive to me, merely the result of enforcing software standards (from TFA) and the usual price fixing from mobile phone companies.
Anyway, can't you just install unofficial apps (not from the store) if you want to bypass these restrictions? Any sort of software protection preventing this will likely be broken in short order...
You can advertise in this sig from as little as £99.99 a month!
I thought MS was trying to WIN marketshare in mobile devices back from Apple, and this is how they do it??? Someone needs to throw a chair at Ballmer and tell him MS is the UNDERDOG in this market and Apple/Symbian are far, far ahead.
*chants* Android! Android! Android! Their motto is "Do No Evil", and I'm very gullible!
Yes - I can finally release Baby Shake Porn Edition! Thank goodness Microsoft didn't repeat Apple's error by releasing this thorough, definitive set of guidelines.
Sadly one of the banned apps is the only thing that would make me return to WM -- an alternate dialer. The default dialer app uses about 50% of the screen real-estate for the virtual buttons, pretty much necessitating the use of a stylus to dial. Apple uses almost 100% of the screen, making dialing with your finger on glass much more reliable. Of course, the BlackBerry uses actual buttons, so that's what I have.
Dude, I think I can see my house from here.
Ignore the sensationalist headline, Microsoft's VOIP policy is actually the same as Apple's. VOIP is prohibited when it's over the mobile carrier's network, but it's allowed if it's not going over the mobile network.
This means the an app that only connects over wifi, like Skype for the iPhone, would be fine.
A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
Windows® Marketplace for Mobile
Prohibited Application Types:
1. Applications that are or distribute alternate marketplaces for content types (applications,
games, themes etc.) that are sold or otherwise distributed through Windows® Marketplace for
Mobile.
2. Applications that link to, incent users to download, or otherwise promote alternate
marketplaces for content types that are sold or otherwise distributed through Windows
Marketplace for Mobile.
3. Applications that promote or link users to a website, or contain functionality within the
application itself, which encourages or requires the user to purchase or pay to upgrade the
application outside of Windows® Marketplace for Mobile.
4. Applications that enable VoIP (Voice over IP) services over a mobile operator network.
5. Applications that sell, link to, or otherwise promote mobile voice plans.
6. Applications that display advertising that does not meet the Microsoft Advertising Creative
Acceptance Policy Guide http://advertising.microsoft.com/creative-specs.
7. Applications that replace, remove or modify the default dialer, SMS, or MMS interface.
8. Applications that change the default browser, search client, or media player on the device.
9. Applications with an OTA (over the air) download >10 MB.
10. Applications that run code outside Microsoft runtimes (native, managed, and widgets)
11. Applications that publish a userâ(TM)s location information to any other person without first having
received the userâ(TM)s express permission (opt-in) to do so, and that do not provide the user a
means of opting out of having their location information published.
12. Applications that publish a userâ(TM)s data from their mobile device to any other person without first
having received the userâ(TM)s express permission (opt-in) to do so, and that do not provide the user
a means of opting out of having their data published. A âoeuserâ(TM)s dataâ includes, without limit,
contacts, photos, SMS or other text communication, browsing history, location information, and
other data either stored on the mobile device or stored in the âoecloudâ but accessible from the
mobile device
Microsoft reserves the right to update these policies as needed to protect the Windows® Marketplace
for Mobile service or the users of the service
"The Most Fun Possible on 4 wheels" is at SunBuggy in Las Vegas
First rule of Marketplace: Don't write another marketplace.
Second rule of Marketplace: Don't write another app to connect to another marketplace!
Third rule of Marketplace: Only 1 VOIP app at a time (Ours)!
Man, who would have thought the once-cool MS would one day become as heavy-handed as Apple!
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Windows Mobile is such a failed piece of software, I can't see how this even matters. Nobody would use a WM6 device unless it is provided for them by their employer. My WM phone gets a 1-second lag between pressing a button and having anything change on the display. It also has to be hard reset every other day or the web browser stops working. How the HELL did that ever make it past QA?
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
Really?
1-3 make good business sense
4,5,7,9 are probably rules pushed by the provider
7,8,10 protect tech support
11,12 are to protect the consumer
6 is probably just a loophole to make sure they can get around any creative ideas that would have been intended to fall under 1-3 but might not be covered.
Of course if you are unhappy with these rules maybe you could return to the open and free policies of buying apps for your iPhone...
These restrictions don't seem excessive to me, merely the [...] usual price fixing
Price fixing. Not excessive. Right...
I'm shocked by the mobile telephony prices in the US: $0.25 per text message. What The Fuck??
I get 50 messages for free every month (and 50 minutes of calls) for a monthly fee of nothing, and $0.032 per text after the first 50.
That's in the socialist haven that is Denmark, where income is most evenly distributed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality#cite_note-0 -- UN Gini, second most equal by CIA Gini, more equal than the US by every metric).
Apple's policy may be messy, but for me the important difference is that MS doesn't seem to be interested in individual developers (see faq. As a result, I (currently iPhone developer) do not care for them either.
... game with VoIP, that needs 15 MB and has its own in-game browser. How will I sell this thing now! *waaaaahh*
I even had a cool name for it: eMacs mobile
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
Dictionaries are a whole excellent App category that exists on the iPhone, and can be supremely useful when traveling. Microsoft is eliminating them for no discernible reason. Yeah, the MS App store is going to be a HUGE success. Good luck with that.
It's only for VOIP apps that work off a mobile network. So Skype can still be on Marketplace, just not allowed to work over a cellular network, only Wifi.
It's not much different than what Apple has allowed. Except they are idiots because of banning the NIN App.
The price is always right if someone else is paying.
Here's a headline worthy of FOX News. An impartial headline would be something like "Microsoft sets WinMo App Store Acceptibility Guidlines". But when run through the Slashdot yellow journalism filter it becomes "Microsoft Bans VoIP, Rival Stores At Mobile Market". Classy.
Can you imagine what it would be like, if there was one central store for your personal computer software?
The situation with the phones (Apple's, Google's, Microsoft's) is totally absurd.
And yet, people are talking about the restrictions on the software in "market," rather than the existence of these "markets" and the railroading of so many users into them.
User, you've got TCP/IP. The world should be your market.
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
To not get a Windows Mobile device
Why is this news?
Just like the VOIP thing, the 10MB limit seems only to apply for "OTA apps".
To me that's a weird restriction though as it should be enforced in the store what users can or cannot download over the carrier network, but instead it seems like possibly you are required to tell them which mechanism your app allows.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Microsoft has a mobile app store?
I am open source, and Linux baby!
Mod +1 Meme
Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
These apps that are not allowed on there store can still be run with out "Jail Breaking" the phone.
Windows Mobile is an open platform
Currently you can download and install Windows Mobile apps from anywhere. Something keeps whispering in my head that Microsoft will totally copy Apple's "Locked In" App Store concept with version 7. Why not? It appears they are attempting to copy the rest of the concepts as well.
As long as I can get an "iFart" clone for the WMD.
Seriously, I'd rather wear a "Hello Kitty" t-shirt than use a WMD.
Actually, I think the restrictions are reasonable. One thing to note is that it doesn't say the apps must change your default browser or dialer back to Microsoft's, it says you can't change them at all. In a way, this could be viewed as a good thing. Do I really want my copy of "Epic Game" changing my default browser from Opera for example? Or changing my dialer to something they made to promote their game? I think what MS is doing is fine, sure there is the problem that you can't get alternate browsers from the Market, but this isn't the iPhone. We can get are apps elsewhere.
I can understand why network operators ban the protocols. Particularly when they offer their own phone services. But why Microsoft? Are they getting into the phone biz themselves?
Be afraid, Verizon (Qwest, AT&T, et al). Be very afraid.
Have gnu, will travel.
Where as Microsoft has to list 12 different type of applications they won't allow in their store, as usual the Apple list is both shorter and simpler. It consists of: Apps we or AT&T simply don't like.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
You mean Firefox Download links like this one?
http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:q6uTxKUV5qQJ:membercenter.office.microsoft.com/+download+firefox.com+site:microsoft.com&cd=19&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
So according to Microsoft, changing the default browser is unacceptable behaviour for programs?
CRITICAL UPDATE!!!
What's this update, which is heralded by a black and yellow exclamation-mark warning shield permanently on the desktop with tooltip telling you YOUR COMPUTER IS INSECURE AND NEEDS FIXING IMMEDIATELY?
"Internet Explorer 8 is the latest version of the familiar Web browser that you are most comfortable using"
For years, I wondered one thing... Why on earth Symbian developers are so paranoid about the .sisx (installer) size while everyone on planet who can afford a $20 application has a flat/wifi line? For a goodly written Symbian application, the "device on board flash" is not an issue either, you can install the application to memory card and it can swap in/out to built in flash (e.g. temp files). J2ME developers on other hand, has some issues and I can understand them. The deep issue with J2ME is the sandbox system which requires apps to play around in their own directory. Great security comes with a price as usual.
I was updating my brothers iPhone 3G and noticed there are even 10-12 MB card deck games, real stuff is way bigger. I guess it is one of the reasons why iPhone apps are so eye candy, they really don't care about size. Recently shipped "Myst" is 700 MB. Even iPhone users went crazy for that one, I just ask "So what?".
If they limit to 10 MB, Developers will have 3 options and nothing else.
1) Compress using better (but slower) algorithms
2) Give up eye candy
3) Have a base application install and get the rest from Web (e.g. Yahoo Go! 3.x J2ME does it, good surprise when you are on GPRS on first launch)
Why bother? Really, Windows Mobile devices have good internal flash memory and massively expandable with memory card. Bandwidth cost for consumer? If 12 MB is problem for him, he has a "byte by byte ripping" provider, 10 MB will hurt too. iPhone is successful because Apple's attitude is "enough, it is a smart phone, use it like that, 2010 is arriving soon" and they keep it that way.
The entire "App store" success comes from that. It is not the LOOK of it, it is how it does have different attitude on doing things. Once again MS misses the "real thing" while copying, that is why Apple came up with "photocopying" term I guess.
> larger than 10Mb, and change the default browser
I guess that'd rule out Internet Explorer then?
I bet they won't allow HaRET either.
( http://www.handhelds.org/moin/moin.cgi/HaRET )