It looks like Facebook's launching an app store of its own...
Facebook's just announced that it was going to be launching an app center… as if we didn't already have enough app stores to download from.
The app store won't be unique to a platform. Think of Facebook's new app center as an app aggregator. It'll feature apps of all sorts, from iOS to Android to web to desktop apps.
The app center will include both paid and free apps. One of the primary goals of the Facebook app is to be another avenue for developers to make money.
Quality apps will be highlighted on Facebook, much like in the iTunes App Store. Users will be able to vote on apps, and the highest rated ones will be, according to the Facebook developer blog, "prominently displayed" on the Facebook app center. The app center will also be using Facebook Insights in order to monitor ratings and app popularity by age demographics.
The app center is expected to launch in the coming weeks. On the developer page, Facebook has put out a call to developers for app submissions. Apps that don't follow the Facebook app submission guidelines will not be featured on the Facebook app center come launch day.
This line really had me salivating over thoughts of a PC-based platform that would natively run all current iOS/Android/WP7 apps without needing to buy those respecting phones. There are some really great iOS-only apps out there I'd love to try but can't justify getting an iphone just for that. It'd be awesome if someone made a universal platform that would allow you to buy apps from all the different phone app stores (you'd still be buying apps direct from Apple so they would still get their cut) and play them right on PC.
A man can dream.