A little over a month ago, WPDownUnder first raised the concept of an “Aussie-made” style initiative for Windows Phone Developers and their Apps. With more than 70K Apps now in Microsoft’s marketplace – and limited search capabilities based on the submitted application information – it has become increasingly difficult to pick out and support your local Aussie Dev’s against overseas developers offerings. No more!

WPDownUnder is excited to exclusively confirm that this week a FREE new app by preeminent local developer Mobilewares.net will be submitted for marketplace publication; “Developed Down Under”. Niall Ginsbourg, developer of many of Australia’s top-selling and highest downloaded apps like AU Weather Pro and AU Footy 2012 has kindly contributed his considerable expertise and time to launch this #wp7au (Twitter hashtag) Aussie Windows Phone community App,

Developed Down Under will be an App for all Aussie Developers – for the Aussie Windows Phone user community. As a FREE App - it will aim to showcase our local content and make it easier for WP owners to have better visibility, and hopefully reward quality Australian App offerings with their hard-earned if paid and positive reviews/feedback.

The App will provide a range of features, including;

• Random suggested Apps upon each application launch (can also be triggered in-app)
• Additional search capabilities – including Browse by Publisher, Latest Apps etc
• Aussie WP7 news feeds (from all good blogs – and some dodgy ones too lol).
• Aussie #wp7au Twitter feed etc.
• An exclusive new Aussie #wpddu (amended) tag – Developed Down Under!

AND of course – it offers you, the Developer, additional FREE PROMOTION and MARKETING of your APPS to a local and international audience without the clutter of the rest of the world’s 68,000+ (at time of writing) Apps getting in the way of your new customer’s searches!

Here’s some screenshots to whet the appetite:

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please Note: The screenshots above (taken from the app running on an emulator) used a small sample of aussie apps so we could show you how this app would look (with content). These apps displayed have not yet been submitted to us for approval by their respective authors (and this sample does not reflect the current catalog of apps which will be included with the released product).

 

And this is just version 1.0! Importantly – Aussie Developers will need to OPT-IN to this app to ensure their catalogue is included. This also brings with it the need for a small amount of legal fine print…As the App partner, WPDownUnder will maintain a webform in the initial phase to allow Aussie Developers to “Opt-in” and allow their catalogue of Applications to be displayed in the Developed Down Under App. There are also necessary marketplace rules and conditions which need to be met – so mobilwares.net also have a Terms and Conditions Document Developers will need to agree to in order to ensure (c) and existing Marketplace requirements from Microsoft have been met. These are available HERE.

With that out-of-the-way – this is an exciting new development for the Developed Down Under initiative commenced by WPDownUnder. Our thanks to Niall of Mobilewares.net for his hard work and expertise in distilling this concept into a great #wp7au community App – and also his committment to A) keep it free and B) ensure no bias or favour over any particular Developer or App. Hopefully, WPDownUnder can communicate some more news on the broader Developed Down Under campaign in the coming weeks – it most definitely does NOT stop here.

Also – make sure you download the App and provide user feedback for future enhancements. If you run a blog, news site or have something you think would be useful to help build the App and expand it features (eg RSS feed or news source etc) covering LOCAL AU Windows Phone content then be sure to let either Niall or myself know.

The Developed Down Under App is expected to pass through certification over the Easter break – and be assured that we will be posting an update to let you all know once it has gone live in the marketplace. In the meantime – we would love to hear your thoughts via the comments feed here or on Twitter via the #wp7au hashtag and new (amended) #wpddu tag!

Sheeds – and Niall of Mobilewares.net.

 

 

 

 

PS. Thanks to Garry Holden of Handiware for his tagline naming idea of “Developed Down Under”. Direct and to the point! Nice work.

 

DEVELOPER “OPT-IN” FORM. GET YOUR APPS INCLUDED NOW!