Microsoft Windows Phone Store up to 120,000 apps
As Microsoft announces Windows Phone 8, the company says apps are now available in 191 countries.
In the numbers race that dominates the headline competition between big technology providers these days, here are a couple more figures, courtesy of Microsoft: The Windows Store now has 120,000 apps, accessible in 191 countries. That's according to Windows Phone Program Manager Joe Belfiore, who took the stage in San Francisco on Monday morning as the company officially launched Windows Phone 8. Out of the 50 top smartphone apps, 46 are now on the Windows Phone, he added. For comparison, Apple's iOS and Google's Android platforms each have more than 700,000 app available.
Microsoft is doubling its language support to 50 languages, and will include country localizations for apps, he added.
Much of the Windows Phone 8 news is already out, as over the summer Microsoft previewed several of the OS's capabilities. Still, the launch is an important next step for Microsoft, as it seeks to maintain the momentum after last week's announcement of its Surface tablet and Windows 8.
The mobile operating system will replace an older OS architecture that was based on Windows CE. You can find out more about Windows Phone 8 here, as Microsoft fills in the remaining blanks at its launch event today.
