Microsoft launches Windows Phone Marketplace website

Microsoft has launched a browser-based version of the Windows Phone Marketplace to make it easier to find apps for your smartphone.

Like the Apple App Store and Android Market, the new website should make it easier to find the kind of apps you want and allow you to set your phone to download them straight from your browser.

The new version splits apps into applications and games – although at the moment the application category also includes all the games, making the split a little pointless.

Users can login using their Hotmail or Windows Live accounts as normal and choose to either kickstart a download or have instructions emailed to them so they can for download it later on.

The new website comes ahead of the Windows Phone 7 Mango update - expected to be rolled out soon - and the launch of new Windows Phone devices.

[Via Windows Phone Marketplace]