Disgruntled webOS devs flocking to Windows Phone, says Microsoft

h1 class=’articleheadline’>Disgruntled webOS devs flocking to Windows Phone, says Microsoft

Richard Goodwin

Microsoft claims that legions of disgruntled webOS developers are flocking to its Windows Phone platform

Published on Aug 23, 2011

Microsoft has gone on a major push to get disenfranchised webOS developers to switch to Windows Phone via Twitter – and the firm has actually been successful.

That’s right, more than 500 webOS developers are said to have joined Microsoft’s Windows Phone eco-system within 22 hours of the company’s call to arms.

The whole thing started with Microsoft’s Brandon Watson tweeted that webOS developers should switch to Windows Phone. He said Microsoft would help them get their apps off the ground and establish themselves within the ecosystem.

After receiving over 500 emails of interest, Watson issued one of his own:

‘First things first. Thank you so much for reaching out to the Windows Phone team to signal your interest in bringing your talents to our platform. To be honest, we didn’t expect this level of response, so we were caught a bit flatfooted.’

‘It took a few days (on the weekend) to pull all the mails together into one place to allow me to respond in a smart way and not retype every mail by hand. Consider this a first step in building a relationship with the Windows Phone team. We are psyched to have you aboard and to see what your imagination can do on the Windows Phone canvas,’ Watson added.

This is a big vote of confidence for the Windows Phone platform, which couldn’t have come at a better time. Mango is inbound and Nokia will begin its Windows Phone 7 campaign very soon.

We’re massive fans of Windows Phone 7 here at Know Your Mobile, so this type of migration doesn’t really surprise us. Sure there’s Android and iOS, which are by far the most attractive to developers at present, but Windows Phone 7 is on the up and Microsoft’s developer support is second-to-none.

It’s also not the first time Microsoft has tried to attract the attention of developers. During the rise of the Xbox the firm made it as attractive as possible for developers to support the platform, which paid off massively. Developer support is strong and Xbox 360s are still flying off the shelves.

Factor in the Nokia partnership and Windows Phone 7 just got a whole load more attractive.

We predict big things for the platform in 2012 and look forward to seeing what its new developers come up with.

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Tags: Samsung Galaxy Tab, Windows Phone