Microsoft to court the best iPhone developers? You bet!

Microsoft has been helping iPhone
developers switch to WinMo

The Zune HD is a very powerful handheld, much more so than the current iPod Touch, and probably more so than the upcoming iPod Touch (based on the iPhone 3GS hardware). But it is clear that all this power is “overkill” for a device that has no games or apps in general. The good news is: it will (I think).

Daring Fireball has been reporting that it got a tip from a developer who said that Microsoft has proposed to pay him/her “a bucket of money” to port his/her app to the Zune (HD). While this is unconfirmed, I believe that it is true. In the videogame world where I come from, it is very frequent that a hardware/console brand would pay for such a port. That’s a way to get good titles, and therefore make one’s platform more relevant. Microsoft has taken a first step in helping iPhone developers, but they should also provide a good implementation of OpenGL ES 2.0 on the Zune HD. Yes, they have DX for mobile (on WinMo), but they should swallow their pride and make it easy for iPhone developers. Right now, Microsoft has not said much about its Zune HD SDK, so it’s hard for developers to be excited.