A new global survey of mobile 
-app developers underscores a major shift in their outlook, with interest in building apps for Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 (32 percent) now second only to Google 's Android OS (35 percent). By contrast, Apple's iOS ranked third at 27 percent, according to Vision Mobile's latest survey of 850 developers worldwide.
More developers are planning to invest in Phone 7 because Microsoft is offering best-in-class XNA and Silverlight developer tools and encouraging an influx of PC and Xbox developers. However, Microsoft has "a challenging year ahead" as it begins leveraging Nokia's mobile brand to compete more robustly with Apple and Google, the report's authors noted.
Microsoft's "very strong developer tooling is a key enabler" for developers wishing to build and test their new apps long before Nokia's first Phone 7 handsets hit the market, noted Al Hilwa, director of applications development software at IDC. "We have seen Windows Phone pull ahead of competitors in developer appeal, helped by the Nokia deal," Hilwa said.
'The King of Developer Mindshare'
Still, Android is a formidable global competitor because it is the only mobile platform adopted by developers across Europe, North America, and Asia, according to Vision Mobile's new report. By contrast, developer interest in Apple's iOS is lagging in Asia, due to the relatively low penetration of Apple devices in the region.
Across mobile platforms, Android is not "just the king of developer mindshare -- it's also the easiest platform for developers to experiment with," the report's authors observed. It places fewer restrictions than Apple on "deep" APIs with access to multimedia codecs, SMS texting, telephony and streaming functions, and developers appreciate the Android Market's "instant publishing" policy, which lets them bring apps to market quickly.
By contrast, Apple forces developers to go through an extended approval process before their creations can enter Apple's App Store. Still, one should never underestimate Apple's ability to potentially alter the mobile-device playing field.
iCloud Adds an Advantage
Piper Jaffray believes the free iCloud service unveiled by Apple this week could end up giving the device maker yet another marketplace advantage. "The bottom line is that Apple is increasing the likelihood that consumers buy multiple Apple devices," noted analysts Gene Munster and Andrew Murphy on Tuesday. Moreover, iCloud's halo effect would include Apple's Macs "because the computer is tied into iCloud as well as devices, and Macs are more tightly integrated than PCs," Murphy added in an e-mail Wednesday. (continued...)
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