Microsoft did a couple of interesting things today. One was announce its new Windows Phone Dev Center, formerly known as App Hub, which brings a better experience for developers and publishers. The second was sneakily introduce the new name of its app destination. Microsoft has decided to lose the name Windows Phone Marketplace, opting for a more sensible name in Windows Phone Store. I mean, why not? Everyone is using the word ‘Store’ to better describe the place where users can find content.
Interestingly, there’s no official word from Microsoft to the validity of the name change. When The Verge reached out to the software giant, a company spokesperson was unable to confirm or deny the name change — so we don’t know if the name is official or not. My guess is the new name is legit, and if it wasn’t, someone would have changed it back to Windows Phone Marketplace already.
At the end of the day, this shouldn’t be surprising when you consider how the company already incorporated the name “Windows Store” into its new desktop software, Windows 8. It would only make perfect sense for it to take the next step, which is rebrand the mobile version of Windows 8 into Windows Phone Store.
What do you think? Is changing the name of its mobile store a good move for Microsoft?
[Windows Phone Dev Center; via WMPoweruser]