Intel Updates AppUp Center

Intel on Thursday updated its AppUp Center, opening up the online store to applications that run on Moblin 2.1, the latest version of the netbook operating system.

The AppUp Center is similar to app stores available for smartphones, such as the Apple iPhone and handsets based on Google's Android operating system. Currently in beta, Intel launched the AppUp Center in January for netbooks powered by the Intel-developed Moblin OS.

The latest version of AppUp is available in the United States and Canada. The store will be expanded into 27 European countries March 31. Developers in those countries will have the option of offering their applications in U.S. dollars, euros, or the British pound.

Intel said future updates of the AppUp Center will support the Linux-based MeeGo software platform. MeeGo, slated to be available in the second quarter, will enable developers to write applications across a variety of devices, including smartphones, netbooks, tablet PCs, TVs, and in-vehicle infotainment systems.

The platform is a merger of Moblin with Nokia's Maemo OS. Intel and Nokia hope the combination will create a technology better able to compete with more successful smartphone platforms from Apple, Google, and Research in Motion.

Intel launched the AppUp Center at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. To access the store, netbook owners must first download the client software.

Acer, Asus, Dell, and Samsung were the first to partner with Intel in the effort, saying they planned to launch their own branded stores based on the AppUp Center software. Intel chief executive Paul Otellini said at the time that he expected other consumer electronics companies to partner with Intel in expanding the categories of applications over time to include software for PCs, handheld gadgets, smartphones, appliances, TVs, and other devices based on Intel processors.