Microsoft Mobile Applications Store in the Works?

There it is, in an otherwise ho-hum article about Microsoft Corp.’s plans for Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week. The Wall Street Journal has received a leak that Microsoft is going to deliver a software store to the world, to compete with the Apple App Store.

The paragraph in question: “The offerings will include an online bazaar for distributing software to cellular phones that run Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system, people familiar with the matter say. Such services have become an important complement to advanced cellphones since Apple introduced its iPhone App Store last year.”

That’s all there is, but if it’s true, Windows Mobile 6.5, cloud services and the applications storefront should help Microsoft get back in the mobile device game, where it’s been steadily losing market share from a mobile OS and application standpoint.