Microsoft has continued the ramp-up of its Windows Phone 7 (WP7) activities, stating that at its US launch on 8 November 2010 (yesterday) nearly 2,000 apps and games were available for the platform – almost double the 1,000 promised in early October 2010. The company has now begun accepting app submissions from “any of our 13,000 registered developers in the 30 supported markets,” and Microsoft has also launched its in-app advertising service for WP7 apps, enabling revenue to be generated from content displayed to users while using downloaded products.

PC World suggests that if Microsoft continues adding titles at the same rate, it should pass the 20,000 total in one year. While the company is undoubtedly benefiting from early momentum from developers, and its own efforts to drive interest in the fledgling platform, it may be able to sustain this if customer adoption of WP7 devices remains strong – early reports indeed suggest that devices are being well received.

Among the latest titles joining the WP7 roster is a Google Search app, which includes features such as location-based search to provide more relevant results. This also provides an alternative to Microsoft’s Bing search technologies, which is the default for WP7 devices. Entertainment directory and customer ratings service Zagat Survey also announced its Zagat To Go app for WP7, created in partnership with Handmark.

According to the PC World report, games is the most popular category of apps for WP7, accounting for around one-quarter of the total, followed by “tools” and “entertainment.” PocketGamer says that the average price of games available in the UK is £1.35, although this climbs to £3.52 for titles with Xbox Live functionality.