While a smartphone or tablet can boast impressive hardware specs, a lack of apps (which seems to drive the popularity and success behind a platform) can sometimes cause a device with good hardware to sell a lot less than its makers had anticipated, much like the Blackberry Playbook which featured good hardware but lack of native apps was one of the reasons it did not do as well as it should have.
With Nokia embarking on Windows Phone, after having abandoned MeeGo and its eventually phasing out of Symbian, it has been revealed that in order to help make their handsets popular among smartphone users and developers, the company has been reported to have offered developers and companies money/incentives to develop apps for the Windows Phone platform and for their devices as well.
Such incentives include pre-installing the developer’s app on their phones, prominent promotion and even funding for app development. While we can’t verify the truth to these claims, it does not seem far fetched at all, and if Nokia is hoping to do well in the smartphone market with their upcoming Windows Phone handsets, having an abundant catalog of apps will be one of the ways to attract potential adopters.
Filed in . Read more about Apps, Developers, Nokia, Smartphones and Windows Phone.