The Windows Phone event should be happening in New York City as you read this post but Microsoft has decided to jump the gun a little bit and announce some news on the official Windows Phone blog site. The company has revealed that if people purchase one of the four new Windows Phone 7 based devices , they will also get a pre-paid card that can be used to download $25 worth of apps from the Windows Phone Marketplace.
The new phones eligible for this offer are the $99 HTC Radar from T-Mobile (already released), the $49 Samsung Focus Flash and the $199 Samsung Focus S (on sale starting today from AT&T), and the $199 4.7 inch HTC Titan (on sale "soon" from AT&T).
Getting people to download paid apps for their Windows Phone looks like it will be a big priority for Microsoft in order to make its mobile operating system a success. Microsoft clearly hopes that offering customers a chance to jump start their Windows Phone app buying needs with this kind of promotion will encourage them to purchase even more apps in the future. That should show app developers that there is a new and viable app platform available. Of course, all of this depends on how many Windows Phone devices are sold in the first place.