Developers looking to create and submit applications for Microsoft"s Windows Phone 7 now have a new way to do so. Microsoft"s Windows Phone 7 developer blog announced today that it has updated the App Hub web site. Creators of apps for Windows Phone 7 will find a number of new features, changes, and improvements. If app developers want to wait for the big Mango update to Windows Phone 7 they can do so; Microsoft says that app developers can submit their Mango specific creations sometime in August.
The new App Hub also allows developers to create and release apps for Windows Phone 7 in a number of new countries. The blog site states that 19 new countries are now available for developers to sell their apps: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, India, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, and Taiwan. In addition, WP7 developers in Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, South Africa, and South Korea can now submit apps for the operating system and China will be added in a couple of months.
Developers also have the option to distribute beta versions of their Windows Phone 7 apps to up to 100 beta testers for up to 90 days. There are also some other improvements such as a streamlined application process, three new main app categories (education, kids and family, and government and politics), a number of new sub-categories, and more. Microsoft also states that so far over 23,000 apps for Windows Phone 7 have been released in the eight months since WP7 launched.