Atom netbooks get their very own app stores

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Everything else has an app store these days, so why not Atom-based netbooks?

With the Intel Atom Processor Developer Programme, Intel’s CPU for netbooks and other portable devices is to get its very own app stores to let programmers sell to a wider audience. They'll also earn 70 per cent of the revenue in the process.

It will also feature a new development framework to drive creation of Atom-focused applications.

Speaking today at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, chief executive Paul Otellini said: “Look at the opportunity around netbook volume – we need a better app environment.”

“People want to do more on them than just run legacy applications,” he added, later saying: "Atom is at the heart of a lot of these devices."

Hardware manufacturers will be able to create storefronts to sell the applications. Acer, Asus and Dell have all signed up to the programme, with the first two promising to set up app stores.

The programme includes an SDK and a framework to help software vendors and developers create applications that work across devices running Atom – netbooks in particular.

Otellini said the goal for developers is very simple: “Write once, run on all devices.”

The framework will support Windows and Moblin, and environments such as Adobe’s Air and Microsoft’s Silverlight.

It wasn't made clear, however, when exactly the storefronts would arrive, or when the SDK would be made available.

Click here for more news from Intel Developers Forum 2009.

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