Microsoft began to gather WM applications for Marketplace.

Microsoft began to gether Windows Mobile applications for WM Marketplace. If you are a developer, visit here.

At long last, Microsoft is publicly getting its Windows Mobile application storefront underway. On Monday, Microsoft threw open the door to submissions from developers in 29 countries. To sweeten the deal and to drum up excitement, Microsoft has also announced the Race to Market Challenge, a contest of superlatives that will end with Redmond doling out four touchscreen Microsoft Surface tables to four winning developers.

All applications, games, and widgets certified in the Windows Marketplace for Mobile before December 31, 2009 will be eligible to win one of the four categories: most downloaded freeware, most moneymaking app (calculated by the number of downloads times price), the most useful product, and the most playful. Microsoft will determine the last two subjective awards by a panel decision.

Microsoft’s Windows Marketplace for Mobile application storefront will premier on Windows Mobile phones running upcoming version 6.5 of the mobile operating system. It will be the distribution nexus for free and premium Windows Mobile applications that is similar in concept–and likely in form–to Apple’s iTunes App Store, Google’s Android Market, and RIM’s BlackBerry App World.

Windows Mobile 6.5 phones are expected to hit shelves in early autumn.

Interested developers can access everything from the developer toolkit to the marketplace registration here.

Microsoft is accepting submissions from developers in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong SAR, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and the United States.

(Source : Cnet.com)