Microsoft has just announced, that after six months of their release, there have been 300,000 downloads of the Windows Phone Developer Tools. Microsoft has also announced that the full version of the developer tools will be released on September 16 which will allow developers to finish their apps and test them using the emulator to ensure their app will work on Windows Phone 7.
Microsoft is keen to let developers know that the final version of the tools might break a few things from the beta version, so developers will need to be prepared to fix bugs within their apps. On the plus side, the much requested panorama, pivot, and Bing map controls with all be available to drag and drop into apps with the final version.
The company has also announced that the app marketplace will start allowing submissions in early October. Windows Phone 7 is thought to be going on sale in Europe in October followed by a November release date for North America.
Amongst the other announcements, Microsoft has apparently released an updated set of Windows Phone Marketplace policies (however there is no link to these policies) and have said that they are hard at work on improving the developer portal following feedback from developers.
Channel 9 has posted a video about today’s news for developers with Laura Foy interviewing Brandon Watson, Director of Windows Phone 7.
In a related article, Todd Bishop of TechFlash has interviewed Charlie Kindel, "Microsoft"s general manager in charge of getting app developers on board with Windows Phone 7” asking about the various types and the number of apps likely to be seen on Microsoft’s new mobile OS. From the interview it sounds as if Microsoft still has a few announcements to make with regards to some apps that will be appearing on Windows Phone 7. From the interview it is clear that the company has not “literally paid” anyone to develop apps for the OS; a possible answer to a much rumored story where Microsoft were paying iOS developers to port their apps over to Windows Phone 7.
The Windows Phone Developer Tools is currently in beta. Last week Microsoft announced a list of Xbox Live games for Windows Phone that they will be releasing at the launch of WP7.
Just something to note: if every who download of the Windows Phone Developer Tools turned in one app for Windows Phone 7, then Microsoft would have the biggest app collection, Apple has roughly 250,000 apps but also has well over 5 billion downloads.