Windows Phone 7 : AppHub and the Windows Marketplace for Mobile (part 2) - Marketplace on the Device, Limiting Distribution of Applications

3. Windows Phone Marketplace on the PC

Windows Phone 7 does not connect to your PC via Microsoft's ActiveSync or Windows Mobile Device Center. If you happen to own a Microsoft Zune media player, then you are already familiar with the Windows Phone Marketplace on the PC, which is the Zune client software available at http://Zune.net. Figure 3 shows a game found using the built-in Search functionality.

Figure 3. Windows Phone 7 Application in the Zune client

The Zune client provides the full Microsoft Zune experience for Windows Phone 7, including ZunePass if you are a subscriber. In addition to the media content such as music, videos, TV, and movies, end-users can browse and select applications for download using the Zune client for their Windows Phone 7 device. If the device is tethered either via USB or connected over a wireless network, the application will download via PC. Otherwise, if the device is not connected to the PC the application will download the next time the user launches Marketplace on his or her device.

The Windows Phone Marketplace is the only mechanism available to install an application on Windows Phone 7. It is not possible to "side load" an application on to a Windows Phone 7 device outside of the Windows Phone Marketplace mechanisms unless registered in AppHub and using the Windows Phone Developer Registration tool.

An important function provided by the Zune client is that it allows a developer to deploy code to a connected device from Visual Studio 2010 or Expression Blend 4 for Windows Phone.

5. Marketplace on the Device

Marketplace on the device is a top-level hub experience that provides a one-stop shop location to find applications and games that are not managed XboxLIVE titles.

Figure 4 shows a mockup of the Marketplace panorama where you can see the featured app, which in this example is the eBay application. You also see categories, popular apps, what's new, and all of the featured applications. Selecting a featured app places its panoramic image as the background for the marketplace hub. In this example the eBay application is selected and its corresponding image is what is shown in the background. As a developer you can provide the panoramic art when you submit your application to Marketplace.

Figure 4. Windows Phone 7 Marketplace hub

When you select an application, the application details page is displayed. An example is shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Example Marketplace application details page

The application details view provides the following information to the consumer:

• Publisher and detailed product information

• Price and Try Before You Buy

• Application screenshots

• Access to user ratings and application reviews

• Size and available options for downloading (PC or Wi-Fi only for apps greater than 20 MB vs. Over-The-Air)

• List of related applications if any

• Optionally, game content ratings for games

• More apps by the developer publisher

This information allows consumers to make an informed decision on whether to download and purchase an application. Purchasing is enabled two-ways that are self-explanatory:

• Associate a credit card with their Windows Live ID

• Mobile Operator Billing for applications

Users can make a purchase with just two taps, Buy and then a Confirm Download dialog. Mobile Operator billing provides a great user experience to end-users as the application purchase simply shows up on their monthly bill. Microsoft has found that mobile operator billing increases the likelihood of a purchase transaction by 300%.

Once purchased and downloaded, the application is available in the application list or App List to the right of the Start screen. End-users can choose to pin your application to the bottom of the Start screen by clicking and holding the application icon in the app listing selecting "Add to Quick Launch." When you download a game, it will appear in the Xbox LIVE Hub.

5.1. Supported Business Models

This is a very important and common question asked of Microsoft: what are the supported business models? Microsoft supports four business models in the Windows Phone Marketplace:

• Paid

• Try Before Buy

• Ad-Funded

• Free

A Paid business model is very straightforward. You set a price and get paid. Try Before Buy is the concept of end users trying a free version and then purchasing the full version of the application. To take advantage of Trial mode, it is a very simple API call add a using statement:

using Microsoft.Phone.Marketplace;

Instantiate a LicenseInformation object to gain access to the IsTrial() method call:

if (licenseInfo.IsTrial())
{
     ....//Only show level one
}

As the developer, you determine how the trial application functions relative to the fully paid application.

Ad-funded is where you plug your application into your own or a third-party advertising network. As users download and use your application, they view the advertisements as they go and you get paid for views, clicks-throughs, and the like, similar to on the Web. "Free" isn't really a business model per se, but it can be if the free application enables access to an existing subscription available via the web. As an example, if a newspaper or music services offers a paid Web-based subscription, they can extend that subscription to Windows Phone 7 for free to their existing subscribers enabling anytime access via the phone.

5.2. Search, Browse, and Discover Applications

The Windows Phone Marketplace provides several types of content that users can select from such as Applications, Games, Premium Xbox LIVE Games, music, and special applications from either the Mobile Operator or the OEM who manufactured the device that a user can download.

When a user selects a category such as Featured, the panorama jumps to a Pivot experience to let a user navigate through the different categories available to make it easy for the user to filter, search, and discover applications.

When in the Marketplace app on the phone, click the Search hardware button to search within Marketplace. You can also search within the Zune marketplace windows client.

5.3. Application and Game Updates

Within the on-device marketplace in the content area of the hub users can find a list available application updates. If consumer purchases and downloads your application and you as the publisher provide an updated version in marketplace, you can make the update available automatically to your end-user installed-base and it will be listed on the Marketplace hub as an application update.

As the developer you can provide details on the update to the end-user such as bug fixes, improved performance, additional game levels, and so on, so that your installed base understands what the update provides them.

5.4. Connecting with Your End Users

When a user purchases and installs your application, it appears in the App List or Xbox LIVE Hub. The end-user can choose to make your app a favorite and pin it to the Start screen. It initially appears at the bottom of the list but end users can move it up towards the top by tap and holding the tile, then dragging it to the desired location.

5.4.1. Stay Connected to Users via Live Tiles

Developers can enable Live Tiles in your application so that when your end-users pin the application to the Start screen, they can receive notifications and updates dynamically directly on the application for a richer, more connected, experience. These updates include changing the background image, a count value, and a title.

5.4.2. Temp Users to Purchase with Try Before You Buy

The Windows Phone Developer tools and the Windows Phone application framework provides a trial API that allows developers to call IsTrial within the application to find out if the user has actually purchased the application or whether the application is still in trial mode. This API connects to marketplace under the covers to make this determination. This means that the trial version is the same application as the full version.

You as the publisher/developer get to determine what type of trial as well as how long the trial period lasts. For type of trial, you can determine if it is time based, based on levels, and so on. Trial applications are a powerful way to let users try the app and then convert them to paying customers.

6. Limiting Distribution of Applications

Once an application is published on Marketplace, it can be downloaded by any Windows Phone user. A common question is how to make an application available to a limited number of users. The next sections answers that.

6.1. Deploy an Application to Your Phone for Testing

Probably the most limited distribution for an application is deploying an application to your phone, whether a pre-production developer device or a retail phone purchased after launch. The process to developer unlock a device requires three steps:

Launch the Windows Phone Developer Registration tool in the Windows Start screen.

I covered registration at create.msdn.com and the Zune client already. The last step is achieved by installing the Windows Phone Developer Tools download. Once installed, a Windows Start Menu folder titled Windows Phone Developer Tools is created. Navigate there to launch the Windows Phone Developer Registration tool shown in Figure 6 for a device that has already been registered.

Figure 6. The Windows Phone Developer Registration tool

Ensure that the Zune client is open and your Windows Phone 7 device is connected before proceeding. Next enter your Windows Live ID and Password you used when you registered in marketplace at http://create.msdn.com and click Register. Upon success, you can now deploy code to your device.

Table 1 shows a list of possible error codes and related cause when deploying applications to a device either via Visual Studio or the Developer Registration tool.

6.2. Limit Availability to Beta Testers

Microsoft will offer the ability to conduct limited beta testing of applications prior to making their application available to all users in the Marketplace. As of this writing, the functionality is not yet available; however, Microsoft has stated that beta testing functionality is a priority for Marketplace functionality future updates.

6.3. Enterprise Applications in Marketplace

Initially at launch, the Windows Phone Marketplace does not provide a way for an enterprise to create and distribute a custom Line of Business (LOB) type application to only its employees. Microsoft has publically stated that they will enable this capability at some point in the future after Windows Phone launch.

With that said, an enterprise can choose to publish an application to Marketplace, but have the application require a password to enable functionality. Perhaps a retail store enterprise wants to create an application for its in-store employees. The retail store enterprise could create and submit the application to the Marketplace, making it available to download for anyone.

If a non-employee downloads the application, they would not have a username and password to log in. The application could be written in such a way to allow a non-employee to browse the retailer's catalog or even make in-store pickup purchases. While this scenario may not be an option for enterprise, it may be workable for many enterprises as an interim step.