Windows Phone “Mango” to bring Private and Beta marketplace (via LiveSide.net)

After all the excitements from the MIX11 keynote yesterday on the upcoming
Windows Phone “Mango” update, there is another piece of information coming
out from one of the MIX11 Windows Phone sessions. MobilityDigest.com posted a slide from the session showing
the that Microsoft will be providing Windows Phone developers with more
distribution options to the marketplace:

The “Mango” update will bring two new marketplace distribution options for
developers – the “Beta” and Private marketplaces. The “Beta” marketplace will
not require app certification and will allow developers to limit the
distribution via Windows Live IDs. However, there is a limit of maximum 100
users (subject to change), and the apps must be free and will expire after 90
days.

There is also the Private marketplace, which works the same way as a Public
marketplace you see now, with the only difference being it not publicly
discoverable. This would be suitable for corporations wishing to distribute
custom-made apps for their employees, for example. However, while it’s not
publicly “discoverable”, once people have obtained the Deep Link to a Private
marketplace, they will be able to access it afterwards.

This is good news for corporations, with the small caveat that while a Private Marketplace is not publicly “discoverable”, once people have obtained the Deep Link to it, they will be able to access it afterwards.