App Stores have become synonymous with smartphones and one particular smartphone in general, but could a push into the netbook and smartbook markets be on the agenda for 2010?
That certainly seems to be the case, as Intel has announced a wide ranging move to create applications made specifically to harness the power (or lack thereof) of netbooks. To drive this Intel has launched the first beta of a software developers’ kit (SDK) designed to create third party apps for Windows and Moblin based netbooks.
Strangely Intel has not divulged the number of developers is it currently working with or given any examples of apps it is working on, so it is hard to make many conclusions about its viability. That said, it does seem a little odd to me that anyone would really need (or Microsoft would allow) an Intel-driven Windows app store. The move also ignores popular Linux builds such as Ubuntu and cuts smartbooks out entirely.
On top of this, new and much faster Intel Atom CPUs are promised for early 2010, so the need to create specially optimized apps for netbooks would seem to be diminishing. Nokia has also already tried to integrate Ovi app store functionality into its Booklet 3G netbook, with limited success.
Available in C and C++ editions, the Atom developers’ SDK can be downloaded now. Intel is proposing the familiar 70/30 revenue split for enterprising developers, but I remain unconvinced…
Gordon
