Microsoft OneApp released (a platform) for feature phones

Today the Microsoft Unlimited Potential group released a new application Microsoft OneApp aimed to run on feature phones in emerging markets, with the goal to bring popular applications together in one central place.

On the Microsoft OneApp website you can read the following description of this nice piece of software: 

“Microsoft OneApp is a new software application designed for feature phones – the phones most commonly found in emerging markets. OneApp brings some of the most popular applications all together in one place: Windows Live Messenger, Facebook, Twitter, and many more. Many phones in the market today are limited in the features they can deliver; OneApp expands the capabilities of these handsets to deliver new apps and services as well as a great mobile experience. OneApp puts a great new mobile experience easily within the reach of hundreds of millions of new users.”

 

Microsoft OneApp demo video

Below a short demo of Microsoft OneApp from the “Microsoft OneApp Unlocks the Potential of Feature Mobile Phones in Emerging Markets” article. Tim McDonough, Senior Director of the Microsoft Unlimited Potential Group, demos the Microsoft OneApp application on a Nokia E66 feature phone. 

“OneApp was designed from the ground up to make it easy for people to access mobile apps on feature phones with limited memory and processing capability. Its lightweight on-phone footprint of just 150 KB makes the installation easy and fast. OneApp also includes cloud services that help offload processing and storage from the phone to the Internet, improving overall performance. OneApp appears on a phone as a single application that allows users to easily access all of their mobile apps. It dynamically launches just the parts of an app that a person wants to use, eliminating additional installation time and the need to store all of their mobile apps on their phone. OneApp enables users to easily customize their mobile experience. OneApp runs on a wide range of phones with more being tested all the time.”

“OneApp has both client and server components. The client is a lightweight application that is designed to run on the most popular feature phones. The infrastructure components of OneApp are deployed in conjunction with partners to easily and quickly roll out a branded and customized mobile application experience powered by OneApp. At present, OneApp is available in South Africa through Blue Label Telecoms and their mibli service. Microsoft plans to launch OneApp in more countries within the next year.” 

Short conclusions and wrap-up

Microsoft has released some great applications lately: “Tellme Microsoft’s One Button Voice Access Application Managing Mobile Communications and Information” and “Microsoft Facebook Application for Windows Mobile Phones Step-By-Step Overview” and Microsoft OneApp is a great application complementary to the Windows Mobile platform.

“OneApp removes the need for people to visit several sites searching for the apps they want and hoping they work on their phone. With OneApp it’s all right there, and apps are automatically updated with no extra effort by the user.” 

I really like the concept behind-, and the clever dynamic load balancing design of the Microsoft OneApp application. This concept is also very cool to apply for the Windows Mobile platform, especially when you have a great Facebook for Windows Mobile application released.

Two weeks ago one of the largest alliances was announced: “Microsoft and Nokia form Global Alliance for Mobile Productivity Solutions“. Despite this alliance mainly covered collaboration in the fields of Microsoft Office, it could be that there is more than the eye meets. The “Nokia Booklet 3G – A netbook from Nokia ?“  is powered by Windows 7, while the Microsoft OneApp is mainly aimed at Nokia feature phones. Coincidence ?

Finally great that Microsoft is helping emerging economies and develop new potential future markets. From a social responsiblity perspective this is a great move.