Symbian Horizon: Making a developer’s life easier by eliminating the need to go to multiple App Stores

Thursday, July 16, 2009 14:20

After Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) released the App Store, many followed in their footsteps. From Samsung, to LG, to Nokia (NYSE: NOK), to mobile operators, to Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT), everywhere you turned it looked as if another App Store was being released. If you’re a developer, how do you maximize your potential earnings? If you’re a Symbian developer, how much of a pain in the ass is it to get your app into the Ovi Store, AT&T’s Store, Samsung’s Store, etc.? Introducing Horizon, which is not another App Store, but a “publishing platform.” Expected to launch in October 2009, Horizon is a non-profit service being offered by the Symbian Foundation to help developers get their application into the hands of as many Symbian powered handset owners as possible. You submit your application to the Symbian Foundation, and they take care of getting your app the attention it deserves. This FAQ (free registration required) at Symbian’s developer site should answer any questions you as a developer should have. Not everyone will get the same level of treatment. I don’t expect the 99 cent fart application will get as much love as something like Joikuspot or QiK, but hey, it’s a start.