Microsoft looks ready to rename the Windows Phone Marketplace to ‘Windows Phone Store’

All aboard the ‘This Is Hardly Surprising’ train, please. Today, in its newly released Windows Phone Dev Center, Microsoft let leak the fact that the Windows Phone Marketplace is more than likely set to undergo a name change, to the Windows Phone Store.

This is a small change, but one that is fitting. After all, if Microsoft is to have the Windows Store, and the Office Store, why keep the Windows Phone Marketplace? The name is incongruous. Even more fun, if the Windows Phone Marketplace is to lose the M and go full Store, how long will the Xbox Live Marketplace name last? Surely it will change to the Xbox Live Store in due time, right?

I suppose that having all its various digital content and app bazaars under the same naming schema will, in theory, limit user confusion. Here’s a shot of the Microsoft copy directly mentioning the newly renamed Store:

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Microsoft declined to comment on this story.

Just in case you missed the news, and it was 9 hours ago or so, Microsoft’s new Windows Phone Dev Center, RIP App Hub, should be a good tool for developers who code for the platform. From our coverage earlier today:

Microsoft says the new Dev Center has been designed to make “Windows Phone app development faster and more profitable,”  redesigning it from the ground up to debut a slick new look and easy to browse menu options. This, coupled with infrastructure upgrades, is set to improve the “overall site performance and reliability.”

Alongside the launch of the new Dev Center, developers will soon be able to register their apps in four times as many countries (now totalling over 178 markets) and will be able to publish (191 markets) and get paid in three times as many regions (115 markets) as is possible today.

All that and a likely intentional leak that the company isn’t commenting on to annoy the media and befuddle the tech-reading masses? Not bad for a Tuesday.

H/T to WMPowerUser for noticing the new copy. Top Image Credit: Vernon Chan