I hereby declare July 14 to be App Day! First we heard news of Apple's astonishing success, then Verizon announced the beginnings of their own app store. And now, to cap it all off, we have some new info about the upcoming Windows Mobile Marketplace!

This new marketplace will be Microsoft's answer to the App Store. When it launches this Fall alongside Win Mobile 6.5 it'll give users of the next generation of Windows-running smartphones a place to go and shop for apps. Folks still stuck with Win 6.0 or 6.1 will be taken care of as well; the Marketplace should have options for all Windows Mobile customers before 2010.

It's anyone's guess as to how successful this mobile marketplace will be. Microsoft has taken their sweet time getting into the app game, and they're only going to succeed in it if they're serious. If Apple's taught us anything it's that you have to treat your apps collectively like a flagship product. Without a big marketing campaign and a good selection of apps from the get-go this project isn't going to get far.