Microsoft loves the concept of app stores. It started this trend with Windows Store for Windows 8 and Windows Phone Store (formerly Windows Phone Marketplace) for Windows Phone devices. There"s even a Office Store that"s currently in a preview state.
Today, as part of its second keynote event at the BUILD 2012 developer conference, Microsoft announced a preview version of the Windows Azure Store. This new download app store front is for both first and third party apps to extend the use of Microsoft"s cloud-based services.
The store already has a number of apps available for download, allowing for both app services and data via Windows Azure. It includes apps from Microsoft itself, such as Bing Search and Microsoft Translator, along with apps from other companies such as Address Check.
According to the app"s description, "Address Check will help you save money on postage and reduce undeliverable mail and shipments by cleaning your database of inaccurate and undeliverable addresses."
There"s no word on when Windows Azure Store will come out of its preview version.
Source: Windows Azure Store | Image via Microsoft