• June 30, 2009

Microsoft plans to launch its Windows Marketplace for Mobile application storefront with 600 apps. That's a long way from the more than 50,000 in Apple's App Store, but the software giant has to start someplace. Announced back in February, Windows Marketplace is expected to debut later this year in 29 countries in tandem with the release of the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system.

Perhaps Microsoft can take heart from mobile rival Palm. Last week, mobile analytics firm Medialets reported that the company's App Catalog storefront hit 1 million downloads 18 days after opening in connection with the launch of the Palm Pre. The store went live with only a handful of apps and still has not fully rolled out its software developers kit for creating third-party apps.

Even so, both Microsoft and Palm have a ways to go to catch up with the 1 billion downloads to date from the App Store.