Microsoft OneApp

Microsoft debunked some claims of a unified app store for smartphones by launching OneApp on Monday. The software is aimed at bringing relatively complex Internet apps like Facebook, Twitter and Windows Live Messenger to regular, feature-limited phones. It pools all of these into the namesake single app and keeps the footprint down to just 150K while only loading both the local and cloud-based data that's actually needed.

Reducing the data use is considered particularly crucial to the developing world, where many can't afford smartphones or significant data rates. It should be lean enough to run properly on basic GPRS data and therefore should work in outlying areas where 3G or even EDGE isn't available. Device independence is also key and will let Symbian phones and many others load the app.

Microsoft plans to make an SDK available for developers to add their own software to OneApp using JavaScript and XML. When OneApp will go live isn't specified, but South Africa's Blue Label Telecoms should be the first to take the service live on a carrier.

By Electronista Staff