Finland, Mar 26  Apps, apps, apps! That is the main challenge that Microsoft and Nokia, who are trying to claw back market share from Apple Inc's iPhone and Google's Android in the red hot smartphone market, face now. And so far the going does not look too good for the challengers and their warhorse Windows Phone platform. Apps, short for applications, are small pieces of software that do useful or fun things on cellphones. The huge number and variety of apps in Apple and Google stores are a key factor that has helped the companies emerge as dominant players in the lucrative smartphone market.

On Monday, Microsoft and Nokia said they would invest a total of 18 million euros ($23.9 million) into a new mobile application development program, AppCampus, at Helsinki's Aalto University during the next three years. The move underscores the seriousness with which the two companies view the problem. Most popular global apps such as Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Evernote are available on the Windows Phone platform, but makers of many niche or local apps have shied away. The number of apps available in the Windows Phone Marketplace now exceeds 65,000, surpassing those at another rival Research in Motion's BlackBerry store. But that is still far short of around half a million apps available on the Apple App Store and Google Play, according to app researcher Distimo.

Worse still, only 37 percent of developers are keen to make apps for Windows Phone, showed the latest IDC/Appcelerator survey. That number, slightly down from the previous survey, compared with the 89 percent interested in iPhone and 79 percent in Android phones.

"Mobile developers' interest for the Windows platform has been for the least very lukewarm over the last two years, with no sign of improvement," Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Pierre Ferragu said.

Microsoft launched its latest Windows Phone 7.5 operating system, Mango, last year to good reviews. And Nokia, struggling to reclaim smartphone handset marketshare from nimbler rivals such as Apple and Samsung Electronics, launched its Lumia line of phones running on Mango late last year.Lumia phones look sleek and spiffy, with live, tiled icons that automatically update news, weather, pictures and social feeds. But the fewer number of apps and their quality are hobbling the phones' appeal to customers. Finn Christian Lindholm, a Helsinki-based partner at digital design agency Fjord, believes the latest Windows Phones are interesting enough to challenge the iPhone.

The key to both companies' strategy to gain in the smartphone market would be how they break out of the vicious cycle - the low sales of the Windows phones holding back app makers, and consumers shunning the phones for lack of the apps they are accustomed to.

"They need to break the Catch-22 before there is enough volume and natural pull," Lindholm said.

SHRINKING MARKETSHARE

Monday's announcement by Microsoft and Nokia is an attempt to find new solutions to the problem, in addition to paying third-party developers for the apps.They hope the program, which will provide support, coaching and also funding for app makers, will boost the number of unique and outstanding apps on Windows Phone. It's an uphill road for a new platform. Microsoft's share of the smartphone market fell to just 2 percent last quarter, from 3 percent a year ago and 13 percent four years earlier, according to Strategy Analytics.

Last month, Windows Phone lost also its highly respected chief of developer relations, Brandon Watson, who left for Amazon.com Inc, which is taking on established players in the mobile devices market with its Kindle e-readers.Apart from Nokia, which has a lot riding on the platform, Microsoft has little support from other handset makers, such as Samsung, which are clearly focused on their Android offerings. That is not surprising as the other handset makers are struggling to sell their Windows Phone models. They, unlike Nokia, can only dream of payments from Microsoft for promoting and supporting its software. Last quarter, Microsoft paid $250 million to Nokia on this account.

NO TALKING TOM CAT

On Friday, Rovio, the maker of the wildly popular Angry Birds game, created a scare when media reports said the latest version of the game - Angry Birds Space -- will skip the Windows platform. Rovio Chief Executive Mikael Hed later told Reuters that the company is working toward getting the game to Windows Phone but did not specify when it will be available. Showing how difficult a task that Microsoft and Nokia face, many small app developers, such as Outfit7 - maker of the popular Talking Tom Cat app - and Joby - which makes a camera app - said they have no plans to be on Windows Phone either.

Pioneers in augmented reality - a technology that combines the digital and real worlds, and is one of the hottest areas of wireless -- are also holding back.

"We have enough work in keeping Android and iPhone apps up to date, as well as in enhancing our augmented reality capabilities on them," said Maarten Lens-Fitzgerald, co-founder of Dutch-based augmented reality firm Layar.

Jeff Janer, co-founder and CEO of Springpad, which makes the namesake app that allows users to store, organize and share content, raised the main concern of the app makers: Will the hard work to move to a new platform pay off?

"When considering a new platform, we look to balance cost of development and support against potential return in terms of market opportunity and the ability to cost-effectively reach the market," said Janer, who currently has no plans to develop an app for Windows Phone.For many small developers, it is a question of cost and how fast they can recoup the investment. It would probably take six man-months to build an app for Windows phone and if that was contract work it would be $60,000 or more, said Adam Saltsman, co-founder of Semi Secret Software, which makes the Wurdle word game.

The small customer base for Windows Phone is forcing developers to charge more for the apps, turning off customers further. Most apps that are available for 99 cents on Google Play cost $2.99 on the Windows Phone Marketplace. Andreas Bernstrom, CEO of Rebtel, one of the most popular Internet-based calling applications on iPhone and Android, said the company has Windows Phone on its development roadmap for later this year but has not yet started work.

"I don't know what the market will be like in six months, maybe we need to focus on tablets or something else," he said.

Jeffrey Glueck, chief executive of Skyfire Labs Inc, which makes the eponymous mobile Web browser, said the main driver for developing on Windows Phone will be carrier requests. "So far, we're only getting requests around Android and iPhone." That is one more challenge for Microsoft and Nokia.

($1 = 0.7540 euros)

The American singer turns 42 today, and Carey proves that there's no going downhill when it comes to birthdays, because she's still struttin' her stuff and overcoming any obstacles that may come her way.In the past year, we've seen Mariah give birth to adorable twins Monroe and Morocco, launch a website for "dem babies," stay by her hubby Nick Cannon's hospital bed and even share a bare-faced photo of herself in the studio.

Happy birthday, Mariah!

Hey guys, let's all raise a glass to the Dutchess, because today Fergie turns 37.From her days on Kids Incorporated through her time with Wild Orchid and her breakout success with the Black Eyed Peas, the artist also known as Stacy Ferguson has been busy pretty much since birth.

It seems that Britney Spears is looking for work. While the negotiations between her camp and the show “X Factor” have been ongoing for a while, no current deal has been made. It is reported that Spears has demanded 1 million dollars to come aboard as a panel judge. While the details of a “yes” or “no” are underway, Spears is receiving some mixed reviews about her possible contract.

It comes as a bigger surprise that Spears has asked producers of Modern Family if she could appear on the show. Even better is that the show may include some big names like Brad Pitt and George Clooney, who have all, asked to appear in the hit TV show. The show’s producers say they are interested in having the stars on the show however, they want the role to fit the star and this takes time. It will be interesting to see how the show will incorporate Spears from a “fresh angle”.

Bobbi Kristina Brown is dating the guy she used to consider her "brother" -- because even their closest friends were shocked by the news.Bobbi feels she's doing nothing wrong by dating Nick Gordon, the guy her mother Whitney Houston unofficially adopted 10 years ago.Bobbi broke the news to her friends at a BBQ this week ... and no one believed it until the two kissed in front of everyone. We're told one friend felt the "relationship" was the result of each of them taking the death of Whitney too hard ... but they both brushed off that notion.

Russell Brand claims he was provoked by the paparazzi last Monday when he grabbed a photog's cell phone and threw it through a window -- and he's going to use provocation to fight any charge that might be filed against him.Brand was arrested Thursday for a felony, since the value of the window and the iPhone exceeded the $500 minimum for the crime.Brand has hired a high-powered New Orleans lawyer -- Robert Glass. We're told if Brand is officially charged with the felony, Glass will argue that the damages were less than $500 -- Russell paid $240 to fix the window, and we're told Russell will claim damage to the iPhone was minor.

On a good day, Bollywood star Vidya Balan spends her time weaving in and out of a crowded Mumbai railway station with a fake pregnant belly strapped to her body. Throw in a staggering 43 interviews, and you've got a Balan bad day."It gets really crazy at times," says Balan . She was on her way to the airport to catch a flight to Delhi to continue her unusual promotion of Kahaani, her latest film, which premieres at Dubai's Grand Cineplex.

"It's a lot more exhausting and tiring during promotions because there's no other known face in the film," adds Balan, who has parlayed her earlier film successes — The Dirty Picture, Ishqiya, Paa — into this role, which sees her carry much of the film alone.Directed by Sujoy Ghosh, Kahaani is a tale of London-based Vidya Bagchi, who embarks on a mission to find her missing husband. She's seven months pregnant when her husband-hunt leads her to vibrant Kolkata. Unlike her last film, the award-winning risque drama The Dirty Picture, she doesn't have popular actors Naseeruddin Shah and Emraan Hashmi bolstering the film by lending it extra star power.

Debutant director Anu Menon's London Paris New York, an unconventional romantic comedy that travels the three cities, has managed to impress at the oversees box office.The film starring Ali Zafar and Aditi Rao Hydari collected approximately £32,538, which is said to be more than the collection of Band Baaja Baarat (£25,000), Tanu Weds Manu (£28,000) and Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na (£30,000), said an official statement from the film's publicist."London Paris New York is a small budget film that was targeted at a niche audience. We are happy that the film is being so well , especially by audiences it was made for," said Vijay Singh, CEO of distributer Fox Studios India.

Actress and singer Jennifer Lopez has blamed an internet hacker for spreading rumours suggesting she is to wed her new dancer boyfriend. Gossips spread when a post on Roberto Cavalli's Twitter page suggested Lopez had asked the fashion designer to make a wedding dress for her upcoming marriage to Casper Smart.
The message read, "Today, Jennifer Lopez.She Call To create a special dress. For her next wedding! Which colour.But Lopez confirmed the rumour is not true. "Here's the truth now: Roberto Cavalli's Twitter account was hacked," she wrote on the website.

The actress is due to take the stand today in her wrongful termination and battery case against Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry and ABC, whom she claims conspired to get rid of her after she complained about Cherry slapping her during an argument on the set.The defense is arguging that Cherry neither battered Sheridan nor prematurely killed off her character, the vampy Edie Britt. Edie's storyline simply ran its course, says attorney Adam Levin, who put a handful of Sheridan's former costars on his witness list.But first, Sheridan will testify against her former bosses. And, if her crying jag during her lawyer's opening remarks are any indication, there could be some waterworks!

Justin Bieber reached driving age two years ago. But only now, as he turns 18, is he getting the car of his dreams. Celebrating his milestone birthday Thursday on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Bieber is presented by his manager with none other than a Fisker Karma – the highly coveted, ultra-exclusive plug-in hybrid luxury sports sedan. "You work really really hard," his manager, Scooter Braun, tells him. "I always yell at you, 'Don't get anything flashy!' You know, we're not about that. Be humble, be humble. And I kind of broke my own rule." Braun adds: "We wanted to make sure, since you love cars, that when you're on the road you are always environmentally friendly. And we decided to get you a car that would make you stand out … I think you know where I'm going, and you're kind of freaking out right now. That's a Fiskar Karma."

Justin Bieber turns 18 today (Mar 1, 2012) and his manager Scooter made sure that the 'Baby' singer will be celebrating in style, by presenting him with a $100,000 car. The surprise gift was presented to Justin on Ellen Degeneres' chat show, with his manager admitting that it broke their rules of trying to stick to a humble lifestyle.

The clean-cut teen R&B star appeared on the show and Ellen praised him for being a "good, good guy." And thanks to Scooter, Justin can be a good, good driver, in his $100,000 Fisker Karma electric car with a solar-panelled roof. As Scooter was explaining to Justin why he'd chosen his surprise present, Justin's look of intrigue turned to disbelief, as the screens moved back to reveal the black sports car. "This is for me?" he asked, before throwing his arms around Scooter.

Bristol Palin is the latest . celebrity? It's hard to say that she is . to decide that the whole world apparently needs to know every single intimate detail about her life, with the news that the daughter of Sarah Palin will be launching her own reality TV Series, titled 'Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp.' There's a pun in there, as Tripp is the name of Palin's son, the show will focus on her life as a single mother as she makes a new start in Alaska following a previous flirtation with fame as a contestant on 'Dancing With The Stars.'

"From the first moment she was thrust into the public eye, Bristol and her son have been the subjects of a huge amount of curiosity and misunderstanding," said a spokesperson for the show, Rob Sharenow. He continued "This show will reveal the real Bristol Palin and her journey as a daughter, a mother and a young woman making her way in the world."