Android released by Google has become a very popular mobile OS; and so has the Apple iOS. Microsoft is now focusing on Windows Phone 7 OS and has planned to release extensive series of Windows Phones.
The popularity of a mobile OS grows as the apps ecosystem develops around it. So Microsoft is trying to attract many Android developers to its bucket by releasing a tool called as Android to Windows Phone 7 Mapping Tool.
Labellin this initiative as, “Leveraging your Android development expertise to build Windows Phone applications”, it is indicative of the fact that Microsoft could soon also release a “iOS to Windows Phone 7 Mapping Tool”!
This tool kit has two main parts:
1) The main Android to Windows Phone API mapping tool: This tool works similar to a translation dictionary, which helps to figure out the developers about the Windows Phone 7 equivalent codes of Android codes.
2) The Windows Phone 7 Guide for Android app developers. This guide consists of a whitepaper with over 90 pages and seven chapters included.
Microsoft has released this tool kit as a Beta, but this has not been mentioned anywhere. However, they are accepting feedback for this tool now. When Microsoft opened the Windows Phone API mapping tool long ago, they invited developers to offer any of their ideas about what type of mapping Microsoft should cover at wp7mapping.uservoice.com. Here, developers can share their ideas and can vote for others ideas. Many of them have been accepted and included in this release. Including Adobe AIR applications in the Mapping Tool gained many votes. This feedback has made the tool more developer friendly.
Microsoft has also mentioned that, it will include the Mango feature in the next release of this Windows Phone Mapping tool. However, other than Microsoft, one more company will be happy after this important move by the Microsoft. It is none other than Nokia. Nokia and Microsoft have already struck a deal where Nokia will be releasing phones using Windows Phone 7 as its operating system.
This move has made it still easier for developers from other platforms to also develop apps and games for the Windows Phone mobile operating system and also to port their existing apps to this platform..
