Microsoft

Microsoft on Wednesday is offering up more details on its would-be rival to the iPhone's app store.

The software maker said it will charge developers $99 a year, plus $99 for each application they submit to get an app into the Windows Marketplace store. Through the end of this year, though, developers who register will be able to submit five applications at no additional charge.

The software maker defended the charge: "Microsoft will run a rigorous certification process to ensure that the end user's experience is optimal, and that the device and network resources aren't used in a malicious way," a Microsoft representative said in a statement. "This process has a significant cost and Microsoft believes $99 is an acceptable cost of doing business for (software developers) looking to get in front of millions of customers."

The software maker pledged that it will also offer developers "complete transparency throughout the application submission process" as well as direct feedback. Apple has been criticized for being slow to respond to developer questions while an application is in the approval process, as well as providing developers with little information as to why certain applications were rejected.

Developers who choose to charge for their programs will keep 70 percent of the proceeds. (Free titles will also be allowed). By comparison, Apple also gives developers 70 percent of app sales through its App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Research In Motion has pledged to give developers an 80 percent cut in their forthcoming store.

Microsoft announced plans for the mobile application store at last month's Mobile World Congress. The store is set to debut with the launch of Windows Mobile 6.5 in the fourth quarter of this year.

The software maker plans to let developers start registering in the spring and begin submitting applications this summer.

Microsoft also said it was launching a sales and marketing program to help developers, though it didn't say how large that program will be.

During a trip Down Under, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has had a lot to say. This week in Sydney, Australia, he stated that he isn't interested in wooing Yahoo anymore, he doesn't understand how Google plans to profit from Android, and he has confidence in President-elect Barack Obama's leadership.

And while the expressive executive on Friday also said Microsoft "may look into" using WebKit, the open-source browser-rendering technology used by Google's Chrome and Apple's Safari browsers, he mostly rejected that idea, according to a Computerworld report. Instead, he said the two prominent Microsoft rivals--as well as social network Facebook, in which Microsoft has heavily invested--have something more worthy of mimicking: an application platform.

Despite acknowledging that WebKit's open-source nature is "interesting," Microsoft's chief executive elaborated on why he says the software giant is sticking--at least for now--with its Trident rendering engine for Internet Explorer.

"I think there will continue to be a lot of proprietary innovation by us, and other people, inside the browser itself," he said. "A company like ours needs to have (its own) rendering service. It is important that we have a browser that embraces (Internet) standards but also allows us to have innovative extensions, even before the standards bodies go there."

On serving as a liaison between developers and consumers, Ballmer seems to have a more collaborative view.

"I actually will agree that there's some good work, particularly at Facebook and also with the iPhone, where both of those companies have made it easier for developers to distribute their applications," Ballmer said, referring to Apple's iPhone SDK and App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch, as well as the Facebook Platform, which provide independent developers with a way to more easily program, market, and distribute platform-specific software. (For its Ballmer-criticized mobile operating system, Google has introduced the Android Market.)

A key motive of each of these platform initiatives is attracting developer attention, and Microsoft is indeed taking note that the strategy is working. The iPhone software development kit, for example, was immediately picked up by 10,000 developers, and it gained more momentum when Apple dropped a nondisclosure policy for App Store releases.

"They've made it easier to kind of get exposure for your applications," Ballmer told a crowd of developers. "There's not much money being made, but the general concept of giving developers a way not only to get their code distributed, but to really get visibility for the code, is a good idea."

Will Microsoft develop a similar concept for Windows developers? Time will tell.

Microsoft hasn't committed to any iPhone apps. However, if I was a betting woman, I would put my money on something coming from Microsoft's Tellme unit.

Tellme is the speech recognition company that Microsoft bought last year. Among its many products is one that lets you speak a search term into a phone and get back a screen with information--say the location of the nearest gas station or pizza parlor.

Tellme CEO-turned-Microsoft executive Mike McCue has been spending a lot of time these days integrating his voice search technology with Windows Mobile. However, Tellme has also continued to work with Microsoft's rivals in the cell phone business. In fact, Tellme's latest software was released first for the BlackBerry.

McCue, who sports a 20th anniversary Mac on his desk and praises Apple for its design, has made it clear he wants to be wherever the mobile customers are.

"We want to be on every phone possible," he said in an interview earlier this year.

He also noted that while the iPhone is seen as the be-all and end-all of mobile gadgets, it is actually fairly cumbersome and a two-handed job to search for local listings. No matter how great a touch screen is, he says, saying what you are looking for, if done right, can be much faster.

To switch a song on the iPhone, he noted, takes six clicks on the iPhone.

"Changing tunes on your iPhone is a dangerous experience," he said.

As elegant as the iPhone is--and McCue gives it lots of credit--what's really needed, McCue said, is a new interface. Not surprisingly, he sees voice as a big part of the solution.

It's not surprising, as Microsoft works to catch up to Apple, that McCue's team has been spending a lot more time lately on mobile applications, working closely with the group developing Windows Mobile 7--the next version of Microsoft's cell phone operating system.

"We want to make Windows Mobile better," McCue said, but added quickly, "Tellme will be available on all mobile operating systems."