Windows Mobile 6.0, 6.1 Users Can Also Visit the Marketplace

When a rival company is touting 1.5 billion hits on a service that you’re still getting off the ground, it makes sense to do something drastic. And so Microsoft is publicly confirming that Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 phones, along with 6.5 phones, will be able to use Windows Marketplace for Mobile. Microsoft’s senior director of mobile services, Todd Brix, said this will expand the potential customer base by 30 million. Because 6.5 phones will have the marketplace pre-installed, adding this functionality or older phones isn’t always simple. Brix said some users will be able to hit up the marketplace directly, while others will have to use mobile operators and phone makers as middlemen that somehow allow store access. Either way, this is a good idea of Microsoft wants some semblance of competition in the app space. [via ZDNet]