Qantas works on Windows Phone 7 check-in app

Qantas is currently developing a new app for Windows Phone 7 handsets that will allow users to check in via an app rather than the web browser on their phone.

(Credit: Microsoft)

The app, creatively titled Qantas for Windows Phone, will let passengers check in to a flight and look up a flight's status directly from the app.

Details are limited at this stage, but according to screenshots provided by Microsoft and Qantas the app also looks set to support GPS-based notification of how far away a passenger is from the terminal and how much time they have to board.

ZDNet Australia contacted Qantas to find out more about the app and when it would be released; however, Qantas had not provided a comment at the time of publication. Microsoft said that the app is "coming soon" to the Windows Phone Marketplace.

The Qantas app news was announced amidst a slew of impending improvements for Microsoft's mobile OS at the MIX11 conference in Las Vegas overnight, including an expansion of the Windows Phone Marketplace to 19 more countries and a streamlining of the app submission process.

The improvements are designed to make the Windows Phone 7 more attractive to developers.

"We're not the first choice for many developers right now — we know that … so we're doing everything we can to give them the best tools," said Brandon Watson, senior director of developer experience for Windows Phone 7.