It’s no secret that the vast majority of apps exist in within the app stores of iOS and Android. It’s somewhat of a secret, however, that most of the major apps are also available in the Windows Phone marketplace. Not all, but most. To help get this point across, CNET.com recently posted the following chart:

As a WP7 user, I should point out that Google Maps is available (I have it on my device) and that Gmail can be synched with the Linked Inbox. The one that kills me is Pandora.There’s no excuse for that. Anyway….

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Exciting news from Microsoft: Skype for Windows Phone is coming soon – and the beta test is coming even sooner. For all you beta testers out there, this is one project you might want to get involved with. Here’s a nice recap from LiveSide.net:

Microsoft first revealed the Skype for Windows Phone app back in MIX 2011 last year, way before Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype. It had almost been a year without further news about the app, and finally during CES 2012 in January, a Microsoft representative mentioned during a video interviewthat the Skype for Windows Phone app will be “coming soon”.

Well according to reports from WP7Lab (via WMPU), Microsoft had just begun dogfooding (internal beta testing) the Skype for Windows Phone app. Furthermore, the website received an anonymous tip indicating that Microsoft will soon be sending out invitations for a beta version of the app. Here’s an excerpt from WP7Labs:

Skype for Windows Phone is just around the corner and we’ve teamed up with the Skype folks to help with beta testing. If you are receiving this newsletter directly, look for an invitation in the coming weeks and be on the inside track for what is sure to be one of the hottest new apps on the Marketplace!

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Apparently I’m in the 10% of WP7 users who have been able to roll out the new “Mango” OS on my Samsung Focus. So, for those who have not yet received the update – or for those who are thinking of becoming a smart phone contrarian like myself – here are a few things I really liked about their latest update.

1. Linked Inbox: Finally! With all the marketing around being the phone to get you in, out and on with your life (or something like that), this feature was long overdue. In fact, it was the first feature I made use of after the 30-minute update concluded.

2. Live Tile Animation: Not a game-changer, but still pretty cool. The new animation makes tiles like People, Pictures and Music &Videos much less static.

3. Xbox Live UI: Much less cluttered and much easier to navigate.

4. Scout (in Maps): Aside from the fact that the Maps application renders quicker, it now has a Scout option to search nearby businesses, restaurants and other destinations. Very convenient.

5.People Hub: (From Wired.com) The biggest change to Windows Phone 7 is in the revamped People Hub, where your phone, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn contacts can be stored together in one big, long alphabetical list. As in Windows Phone 7, you have filters: All, What’s New and Recent. All is that big list of all of your contacts; What’s New is a recent social media activity stream, which you can keep lumped together chronologically or organize by platform (just Facebook updates, just tweets); and Recent shows the people you’ve called, messaged or e-mailed most recently.

I’m not the only one impressed with the Mango update. Here’s an excerpt from PCWorld.com:

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PCWorld has a great writeup on the developer exodus from iPhone and Android to the Windows Phone 7 platform. And we’ve said before, where there’s developers, testers can’t be far behind. Here’s an excerpt:

Why are these bootstrapping coders throwing all of their (spare) time behind the insurgent OS, and not Android or iOS?

For some, it’s because there’s less competition on WP7, or because they’re most familiar with Microsoft’s tools, or because they simply don’t care for the way iOS and Android operate. Microsoft is fighting to exploit those beliefs and recruit the developers who hold them; the company’s success or failure at doing so may mean the success or failure of the Windows Phone 7 platform.

With just over 30,000 apps available for WP7, and only 2 percent of the United States smartphone market, Microsoft is a very small fish in a very competitive pond. But it is growing: According to Microsoft’s stats, Windows Phone 7 gained some 5000 apps in the past two months. Sure, that’s nothing next to the half-million apps on iOS, and the 200,000 you can find on Android, but WP7’s growing apps store shows that some developers think the platform is worth the time and effort.

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Another reason to give WP7 another look:

Future Microsoft phones running the Windows Phone Mango software will have front-facing cameras and be supported by Skype’s video calling service. News of the new hardware and software feature comes from a Microsoft TechEd conference in New Zealand, where the information was tweeted by an attendee. The first phone with Mango to ship is actually available today from Fujitsu, but does not have a camera on the front of the phone, although the rear-camera sensor uses a class-leading 13.2 megapixel sensor.

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