Today Lenovo showed off some additions to its software portfolio, with a custom UI for their Android-based smartphone LePhone and an official Lenovo app store for mobile devices like the LePhone and their Linux-based smartbooks.

Lenovo has already affirmed that they are heavily focused on the mobile internet device market, with three products focused on that segment: the Google Android-powered LePhone smartphone, Skylight smartbook and IdeaPad U1 hybrid. The big news here today is the launch of a Lenovo-exclusive “app store.”

Just like the Android Market and iTunes app stores, Lenovo’s store will offer apps that are designed to specifically run well in their customized operating systems. While the app store for Android seems a bit redundant, it could be a real market advantage for their custom Linux-based Skylight OS that will be used on the IdeaPad U1 and Skylight smartbook.

Lenovo also revealed to PC World that the LePhone will definitely be China-only, but may expand to emerging markets if it succeeds and only after then could it move to mature markets like the U.S. and U.K.. This is no surprise and keeps with Lenovo’s staid fast focus on China first, emerging second, screw the mature markets because we can’t add new business there.

Lenovo has worked with over 500 content developers for its new application download store, including more than 200 who have tweaked their products specifically for Lenovo’s flavor of Android, Read said. The new Web site for the download store offers a software kit for developers and currently lists a few hundred applications.

Source: [PCWorld]