News
Windows Store Partner Directory Offers App Services
It's a centralized hub for partners (including Microsoft) that extend apps.
Windows Store application developers have a new resource available to help extend their applications, with services like analytics, advertising, controls, tools, social media and gaming middleware.
Called the Windows Store Partner Directory, it's a centralized site for partners who offer app services. According to a blog entry by Gabriel Valdez M., Product Marketing Manager Windows Apps, there are seven primary categories:
- Advertising
- Analytics
- Notifications
- Payments
- BaaS (Back-end As A Service)
- SSO (Single Sign-On)
- Controls & Frameworks
The directory is brand new, and thus still sparse. For instance, under the "Performance" topic, there are just three non-Microsoft vendors; under "Push Notifications," there are four, and "Payments" has just two. That number will surely grow, and it's likely that additions will be coming this week, during the Build conference in San Francisco. The "Analytics" category, by contrast, has 11 third-party vendors.
The blog emphasizes that this is the first version of the directory, and that important enhancements are on the way: "In future updates, we'll have a way for our community to interact, comment, and help each other. We'll also have new partners on a regular basis."
A number of the partners are within Microsoft, which it calls "first-party" vendors. For instance, Windows Azure Mobile Services is a partner in the "Social Plugins" section, as is Live SDK for integrating SkyDrive and SSO.
The Partner Directory, which can be found here, was created "to save time and find everything (or most things) in one place. It helps you to be aware of, consider, and try out new and different services," according to Microsoft.
About the Author
Keith Ward is the editor in chief of Virtualization & Cloud Review. Follow him on Twitter @VirtReviewKeith.