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Amazon Building Its Own Android App Market?
Thinkcloud writes "Speculation abounds that Amazon is planning their own storefront for selling Android apps, one in which they, not the developers, will set the price and decide which apps to feature (and which apps to exclude from the store all together). It's a shrewd move and smart strategy for Amazon, though its impact on app sellers is less certain."
I like this idea if they can implement it well. I always find reviews on Amazon useful when purchasing other products. This could be a helpful tool for finding some really good applications. It all depends on the implementation and if they can convince good developers to see their apps there.
> Just what Android needs, more fragmentation.
Yes. Because another STORE represents "fragmentation".
I can't believe anyone modded you as insightful. You're retarded. Another store just means another source of stuff to buy.
It's like the Cydia store but you don't have to hack your device first.
Yeah. That's what Frys, Best Buy, CompUSA, Tiger Direct, MicroCenter, NewEgg, Target and Walmart mean.... "fragmentation".
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
I don't really see the problem - isn't this one of the much touted advantages of Android, that if you don't like their store you can set up your own? If a provider locks the phone to a specific store, I'll not buy that phone from that provider, it's not like Android isn't on a huge variety of new handsets, if I wanted to be locked in, there's an App provider for that. I'm sure Amazon's aim will be, as usual, to try and stamp out the competition and become the sole gatekeeper - good look doing that when the competition is Google and they control the OS, but if it means a little competition to improve the usability of the respective stores, and perhaps a little more effort in helping the diamonds shine amongst the dross, then it's probably a good thing.
The issue here is not just that Amazon might want its own app store, a reasonable desire. The issue is that the current Android market really sucks. Google does not have good expertise in the curation methods that an appstore needs; right now, you have two options browsing the appstore: you can look at top, all-time sales. Games that have been out for two years top these charts, not surprisingly.
Or, you can look at the raw feed of 'newest'. In games, that would be 64 underwear puzzle games, three things in Japanese, and a tech demo of rotating lines, controlled by some sensor or other.
Google's traditional approach to this sort of problem is search, but search does not work well here, and there's significant market opportunity. Hence, Amazon.
Wait a minute ... Amazon gets to set the price? So you want to sell at $3 and they can decide you can only sell at $0.49? Or at $10? WTF am I missing here - that sounds pretty ridiculous (and no, I've been around long enough that I'm not going to sully this post by actually RTFA). I can't see it being of much use in avoiding the race to the bottom ... and I can't see any other reason at first glance.
Just what Android needs, more fragmentation.
Yea its terrible ... like having more than one shop in a mall or something
Doesn't make sense.. They have no phone, no tablet/pad/handheld device. Their ebook reader doesn't even run android. If anything, Barnes and Noble would be a better match to merge an ebook/app store within for some apps.. but amazon? Thats just fragmentation for fragmentation sake
I don't think it's fragmentation but this nugget:
one in which they, not the developers, will set the price and decide which apps to feature
is a deal killer. No way would anyone I know work on an app and not be able to set the price. That's basically Amazon telling the developer what his/her time is worth.
Trolling is a art,
Where are my mod points when I need them?
More app stores is a good thing. Each user can use one or several stores, depending on the use they have to their devices.
The average /. user already have mikandi's app store installed alongside google's.
Except, what developer would willingly agree to hand over his product to this kind of a store?
Is having an app that's featured in a walled garden store where other people have control over your app a desirable thing nowadays?
In other words : are there programmers who would like to take in the ass from amazon?
Yeah, Android will be fucked. I mean the ability to buy apps from a variety of sources completely and utterly destroyed the PC and Mac ecosystems. If only they'd been able to limit PCs and Macs to single stores to buy apps from, then nowadays we wouldn't be using the internet and having to work on...
Oh wait, nevermind.
BTW, I had no idea who John Gruber is, so I had to Google him. For anyone else wondering, apparently he's a blogger from Philadelphia, who graduated from Drexel University, and worked for Bare Bones software. Big names there, obviously a person that matters in the technology world.
Yes, because when more stores open up in your town, it's not economic growth and development, it's "fragmentation."
The funniest part of this comment is that Amazon is only going to be likely to gain much relevance for their own app store in their dreams. They're going to have reach, of course, but a job of convincing developers to accept their terms and come into their marketplace when they are already in _the_ marketplace used by tens of millions (soon to be hundreds of millions) of Android users. They will have to spend big to get out of the zone of irrelevancy. It sounds like a miscalculation born of arrogance to me.
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In the phone world you rarely have "choice" and as the parent mentioned, most carriers will lock you into something you don't want. For example, Verizon/Samsung have decided that Bing should be the search engine of choice on their smart phones. Not exactly a big deal, except there is absolutely NO way to change it over to Google, if you so desire. I can see the same thing here. Amazon/Verizon ink a deal, and all VZ phones now ship with the default Amazon market, and Google Market is no where to be found. If you actually had a choice, then I don't have a big problem for allowing multiple markets, search engines, etc. Sure, it brings confusion, but in this case, the "choice" isn't yours...it's the handset and service provider making that choice for you.
That's why there are also rumors that a amazon is going to launch an android tablet at the same time:
http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/27/amazon-android-tablet/
I not your uneducated consumer; I know a thing or two about the Android platform, yet it's still murky as hell to me with all the different flavors of UI by different manufacturers that don't all look or smell the same!
It's no different than all the various linux distributions available; sure they're all Linux under the hood and can be customized to your liking, but many have different UIs and different ways of doing things which scares your typical consumer away, preventing it from gaining any significant market share.
I wonder if this Amazon App Store application will behave like the Amazon MP3 store application that came pre-installed on my phone; constantly starts on its own and consumes resources for no apparent reason even though I never use it, has full network permissions, can read my phone state and identity, can modify my SD card contents, and has access to my system tools (change Wi-Fi state, prevent phone from sleeping), and worst of all can't be uninstalled (Thank You, Sprint and HTC!).
I live in a country where Android phones are either hideously overpriced ($600 for a Galaxy S? Tigger please.) or bundled with a service plan offering more voice minutes in a month than I'll use in a year. So I'm in the market for an Android PDA or Android PMP like those made by Archos, not another phone with another phone bill. An Apple fan might describe it as "Android pod touch". But I'm not aware of one Android device without a cellular radio that Google has officially approved for use with its store. So developers who don't feel like competing with established apps on Google's store can target Android devices that lack 3G and sell on AppsLib and this Amazon store in addition to Google's store.
Wait a minute ... Amazon gets to set the price? So you want to sell at $3 and they can decide you can only sell at $0.49? Or at $10? WTF am I missing here
It's a shop. You must use shops some times. The shop owner typically decides the selling price. The price you are willing to see at to Amazon is up to you. The price Amazon is willing to pay you is up to Amazon. The price Amazon is willing to sell to the public at is decided by Amazon. The price the public is willing to pay is decided by the public. Amazon can have loss leaders or 200% mark ups. It's a shop.
To summarise the summary of the summary: people are a problem. ~ h2g2
(disclaimer - I currently don't own an Android device, and don't have access to the store, so this may already exist)
... is a community-centric app evaluation system, so that rogue apps can be flagged up and possibly pulled from the store. We keep hearing about how Android apps are apparently harvesting data and shipping it off to some website or another. Or accessing people's phonebooks.
(yes, yes - I know that people are warned about these things, but a lot of end users are dumb and blinding press "YES" when they see a dialog box)
So, what would help is for members of the community to report malicious apps, and allow installing users to see before hand that it has been reported as misbehaving.
Of course, this won't help people who install APKs directly off the net, but then you only have yourself to blame. Example: BFTSSQuiz 0.65.apkDON'T INSTALL THIS APP - IT'S PRE-ALPHA! I wonder how many people'll download it, anyway...
THE HONOUR OF THE KNIGHTS - CC Licensed Sci-Fi Novel
Yeah. That's what Frys, Best Buy, CompUSA, Tiger Direct, MicroCenter, NewEgg, Target and Walmart mean.... "fragmentation".
Yes, they do mean fragmentation. In fact, fragmentation is exactly what it is. Fragmentation of electronics sales into separate and competing entities. The mistake is believing fragmentation is automatically bad instead of a driving force to present the best, safest and cheapest option.
The price you are willing to sll at to Amazon is up to you. The price Amazon is willing to pay you is up to Amazon. The price Amazon is willing to sell to the public at is decided by Amazon. The price the public is willing to pay is decided by the public.
And obviously that means that if you won't sell for the amount Amazon offers you then you don't sell it to them and if the public aren't willing to buy for the amount Amazon is offering it at then Amazon don't get a sale.
To summarise the summary of the summary: people are a problem. ~ h2g2
Do you suppose Amazon's going to put the in-phone app available via the Android Marketplace?
Amazon doesn't need to unless it is specifically targeting the Backflip and other Android phones sold by AT&T, which hide the "Unknown sources" checkbox that enables APK installation.
Brick and mortar stores are not relevant to this discussion.
Say I have an app I am actively developing and maintaining. One central distribution mechanism means that I can focus my time on writing and updating it, upload the .apk file, and go on my merry way. I eyeball the reviews, and make sure to take heed of any constructive critiques for the next revision of the app.
With multiple app stores, each of which has different rules, each of which are present or absent on different phones, in order to have my app available to as many users, I have to jump through every store's hoops. I also have to pay each store's ticket to entry. Google's store is very reasonable, just pay your $25 and you can play. However, with other stores in the mix, they can set prices any way they feel like. They can also set many restrictive conditions.
Want to know where the shit will really hit the fan? When stores demand exclusivity. If store "A" demands I only can use them, then any Android device that ships with store "B" and only store "B" on their device, my app is locked out of that market. This definitely will fragment Android far worse than it is now.
Don't forget that as of now, one can sideload and install via ADB on almost all devices. However, both of those abilities can easily be removed in a new model of phone forcing people to either get their apps from the store or do without.
Of course, there is the slippery slope: What happens if cellular carriers want to hop in this pool? More stores are not better in this choice, because I'm sure some carriers would only allow access to their specific store and no others.
PC and Mac apps worked on any PC and Mac as long as the hardware met the requirements. Dell/HP didn't do too much customization of the OS except for including drivers and wallpaper/BIOS for branding
with android the manufacturer first makes a deal with a carrier and then customizes the OS for that phone based on the carrier's wishes. AT&T is already locking their android phones out of some app stores. i bet in the future we'll see android phones won't run apps just because it's from a store the carrier doesn't approve of
Preach on Comrade!
Down with capitalist fragmentation!
Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
Brick and mortar stores are not relevant to this discussion.
Why? You'd need a chain with stores in enough areas but other than your arguments apply to people producing any other product having the joy of dealing with only one company, what's special about app developers?
And if there is some reason to exempt brick and mortar stores specially then how about web sites? Should I only be able to buy anything online through one supplier?
To summarise the summary of the summary: people are a problem. ~ h2g2
It would be especially good if all the apps were thoroughly tested. With all the stories lately about Android apps
grabbing/using personal data it might be nice to have an app store where they tell you exactly what data it uses.
Even things like how much processor & memory it uses while active would be useful info. Or how well it runs on
different screen sizes. I have no idea if any of the stores already do this as my 11 year old nokia phone doesnt
have apps.
I am a free slashdotter. I will not be modded, blogged, DRM'd, patented, podcasted or RFID'd. My life is my own.
Google has really had their goggles (or blinders) on about the whole app market.
While they've managed to create a lot of market momentum behind what is fundamentally a hardware platform, they have been unable to tie that to their software based platform.
Is this because of their 'open' stance? Perhaps, but that's only going to be able to be discerned over time.
As hardware has become 'commodotized', so has software, and so too will the 'great' web services like google.
It's only a matter of time.
So does Anonymous Coward have good karma?
I'm asking because their terms aren't likely to attract too many top-end developers. Seriously, would you want Amazon to set prices for your product, and tack in DRM?
That last bit is uglier than the rest - even if you're a big fan of DRM, the fact that Amazon can literally modify your binaries at will (read: potentially break something) is enough by itself to drive off any developer with more than two working neurons.
Now if Amazon drops those two parts, they'd stand half a chance, IMHO.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
Is Amazon building it's own Android phone?
i bet in the future we'll see android phones won't run apps just because it's from a store the carrier doesn't approve of
So your argument, essentially, is that maybe someday we might see an example of a single vendor (out of many) doing what Apple does to every single device it sells?
Even if they ALL did it, you'd still only be at the level of 'same' rather than 'worse'.
this assumes amazon won't lock things to it's store.
I wouldn't want news from anywhere but the BBC, tbh.
I assume we'll have the same shrill cries on here of "WALLED GARDEN!! RESTRICTIONS ARE BAD!! WHAR FREEDOM AMAZON WHE!!" and Amazon will be added to The Official List Of Evil Companies That Hate Software And Freedom And Puppies.
Or is it only bad when Apple does it?
So you're not seeing the difference between:
A) A vendor offers a single device that uses one tightly-controlled source of applications
and
B) Devices from various vendors are offered that can access a variety of sources of applications (and one of them is tightly-controlled)
Seek help.
I'm hoping they will offer Amazon products and media.
I'm not really interested in buying Android apps from them but I'll happily buy their books, music, movies, and other merchandise. And when I do I don't want some other company taking a cut or interfering in the process.
And though I doubt that I would be buying apps from them rather then the Google Market, I wouldn't rule it out.
I have no idea if any of the stores already do this as my 11 year old nokia phone doesnt
have apps.
So you have no idea what your talking about? Good for you!! Wade right in their with your opinions. Dont let the fact that your ignorance will probably lead you into making a stupid comment. I mean Luddites have a fair and balanced view of modern technology, right?
at Frys, you tend to buy brands that you recognize. why? because the brand engenders a certain amount of trust. the difference with app stores is that we're treating the store as the brand, in part because app suppliers don't have much in the way of brand/trust identities of their own.
which is why Amazon opening an Android app store makes sense, and is not much of a problem for Google. Google may well be able to come up with some competitive advantage, but otherwise, they'll probably just get out of that business once Amazon (or others) have a decent ecosystem going. Sure, iTunes is a profit center for Apple, but that's largely a result of being a monoculture/walled-garden/etc.
Have U ever seen the Android Marketplace? It consists of 2 tabs ("Apps" & "Games") and a searchbox. Then you click a button and the app installs. Also, what app does iPhone have that Android doesn't? I dare you to name one.
Yes and no. Competition between stores is good, of course. But the OP expressed fears that manufacturers and networks might lock their devices to Amazon's store (in exchange for a piece of the pie, no doubt), and I think those fears are entirely justified.
Of course most of us will just root our phones and go elsewhere, but that's not something your average user is likely to do. And I'm sure Motorola would love to prevent it completely.
Back in the days of DOS before Win95 took over the PC world, when the PC market was growing, while what you say was largely true as written, you have to remember that there was a lot less abstraction of hardware, and that the diversity (in the PC world) of hardware was at least as significant as the diversity of customized Android OS software and hardware combined (and, that there were quite a few versions of MS/PC-DOS, and toward the end of the period a few clones, floating around simultaneously as OS software), and yet the PC software market did quite well (and, once the Mac was around, better than the market for Mac software despite the latters more uniform target platform.)
If the store has apps that people want, there will be a pressure for the carriers not to lock it out, or their phones sales will suffer.
Dilbert RSS feed
The point is that it is NOT like "brick-and-mortar" stores because no one in the real world is limiting you to only shopping at one particular store. Concerning Android, users and developers alike are worried that the providers will lock you into one store.
You are 100% right -- more stores are better, but only if you are not limited to any one store, and you know how the providers are with vendor lock-in.
Just what Android needs, more fragmentation.
I don't think that word means what you think it means.
Fragmentation is where Android itself splits up. Like having one version of Android on a Verizon phone, and something different on an AT&T phone, and they may not even work with the same apps.
That's bad for Android as an OS, because then consumers aren't sure what will or won't work on their phone. It says "Android" on the phone... But it isn't actually Android, it's Verizon's flavor of Android.
This is another app store. It isn't going to fragment the Android platform, it's just going to give you another place to buy your Android apps.
"Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde
What, like the App selection for the /iP.*?/ is any better?
I bought an iPod Touch earlier this year, and ended up returning it because I could barely get it to do anything useful (there was a subnet calculator app I kind of liked, but it wasn't worth paying $300 for something to replace a pen and a bar napkin) that even my piece of crap Palm Pro phone couldn't. Even after jailbreaking, it didn't seem like there was much to it except shovelware games that reminded me of early DS and Wii games (using touch/waggle in new and obnoxious ways) and marketing apps. An app to directly link to a shitty big-chain pizza corp with watery sauce and cardboard crust? Sign me up!
Amazon is already a major e-retailer, so they have some advantage there. I think the real question is whether they'll add value to the user/customer's app-selection process. yes, Amazon already has some you-may-also-like, and user reviews, but can Google do a better job of mining such data to produce value? Amazon doesn't seem to take this as seriously as Netflicks, for instance. can Google obtain some advantage from, for instance, crash reporting? perhaps they're in a better position to profile, for instance, how an app treats your personal data...
At this point, "app stores" have really done nothing that warrants assigning individual developers any sort of trust based on their association with a particular store.
They really are only electronic equivalents of B&M stores that might perhaps give a little extra control to the owner of the store.
They do squat for "trust".
The idea that something in the Apple App Store is necessarily more trustworthy due to it's association with Apple and their so-called vetting process is nonsense. It's time to stop drinking the cool-aid and believing the propaganda being happily propagated by the so-called news media.
I would much rather be able to go straight to the developer and get a DEB package from them then futz around with Apple.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
So... if I've got it right then "fragmentation" of stores is a problem because if we have more than one then phone providers may limit us to only one, so to prevent that we should only have one? Or something?
To summarise the summary of the summary: people are a problem. ~ h2g2
6 Android Websites You Should Check Out
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-android-websites-you-should-check-out/
For this reason, it’s important to find a few Android websites that can keep you up to date on your Android device. Recently, I wrote an article about 5 Awesome Android Applications That Could Make Life Easier, and now I’d like to tell you which Android websites I’ve found useful in my experience as an Android user.
That is a list 6 sites that sell android apps that do not include amazon. If you don't want to sell your apps on amazon, there are more than one alternative of where you can sell your app.
Anonymous comments are as pathetic as the anonymous "sources" that contaminate gutless journalism from the New York Time
I love this model because if Amazon wants to offer something more appealing for creators and consumers, they'll sell more "stuff" and people will be happier. And if this is popular more merchants will set up something similar.
This is a good thing. Everybody getting more choices, everybody will make more money.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
I'm a luddite because my phone does everything I need it to do (work as a phone)?
When I want a camera I use a camera. When I need internet access I use a PC.
I have nothing against technology, I just dont see the point in paying for something
I wont use.
I am a free slashdotter. I will not be modded, blogged, DRM'd, patented, podcasted or RFID'd. My life is my own.
One issue with multiple app stores is... multiple notification of upgrades. I have received this as I have apps of 3 stores on my phone.
They will have to spend big to get out of the zone of irrelevancy. It sounds like a miscalculation born of arrogance to me.
A few posts have made the point that Amazon is better at presenting relevant content than Google when it comes to showing a catalog of things you are likely to buy.
Another reason that I think Amazon will succeed in this venture is that they have a large customer base that trusts them. A study was done that found that Amazon.com is the most trusted brand in U.S.A.
Here is a link to a blog discussing it: "Study: Amazon.com is most trusted brand in U.S." http://news.cnet.com/8301-13846_3-10457727-62.html
Note: Some brands that did well in other countries were Nokia, Toyota, Colgate, Pampers. Microsoft was #1 most trusted in the Czeck Republic.
Does it have iTunes ;)
I don't know. Are they? You tell us...
How about we post the news article if they announce one? I really hate these speculative 'question' posts.
New Android phone to have six buttons?
Display manufacturers to use synthetic sapphire glass?
Tommy Lee Jones to star in new motion picture?
Why can't submissions provide actual sources? In this particular case, we got a link to a blog - which linked to another blog - which linked to a techcrunch article - which linked to another techcrunch article - which linked to a dev mailing list. Would it have been so hard to provide the direct link to at least the techcrunch article which provided far more details than the random blog analysis of the same?
He wasn't calling you a Luddite. He was comparing your commentary on an app store while never having used one to a Luddite's commentary on technology. I'm not sure I agree with his comparison, but it wasn't saying what you think it was.
It would be really awesome if somebody took it upon themselves to build a store rather more like Apple's than what Android currently has. There are a lot of strengths to that model, where each app is thoroughly tested and run through a vetting process to ensure it performs as advertised, is malware free, and doesn't eat through system resources so as to make the phone a piece of worthless slag once installed. The weakness comes in the fact that, on iPhone, it's mandatory (without a jailbreak); questionable rejections and potential censorship are merely the symptoms, secondary vendors would render them largely moot (and probably cut down on them, ultimately).
I'm planning to go Android on my next phone, partly because I prefer the OSS aspect, partly because they're a bit cheaper, partly because it gives me more choices for network and price, and largely because I can't fucking stand using Apple products... they make me irrationally angry and frustrated, and prolonged exposure just enrages me.
Apropo nothing, I have similar feelings of unwarranted hatred toward Owl City, and am similarly driven toward bloodlust whenever I'm subjected to his music. It has no bearing on this article, but I want to Raid every single firefly in the world, then shove a Dremel into his eye socket. To paraphrase St. Carlin: this isn't a pet peeve, it's an irrational fucking hatred.
Try not to take me more seriously than I take myself.
You'll find that $600 is more or less what a smart phone costs.
An iPod touch 4 costs 229 USD. Do the cellular radio, camera, microphone, and GPS really cost $370?
"Things"? What do you mean? They are going to lock my account to their store? Or my Android phone that I didn't buy from them?
Infuriate left and right
That's not exactly how it works. First of all, its not exclusive of Google services, and secondly, anyone can install third party apps on their Android phone without rooting it. Feel free to install some other search apk instead.
- Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
Android already tells you exactly what data an app can access. You have to grant those permissions when you install it. The apps can't look at anything you don't give them permission to. Your job is to pay attention to those permission dialogs - I certainly do.
Really? +1 Insightful? Wow slashdot, way to go.
As for the OP - because nobody should have a choice or option, right? Because Apple has defined the model and is controlling it's walled garden, everybody else should, right?
Is the same same fragmentation all the 'bloggers' jumping up and down about Android being offered by different carriers? Yeah, that did not work out well, right?
Google is an awesome company but they have really bungled the social aspect with quite a few of their services (probably because they fear to assume the big-brother role that Facebook and Amazon don't mind adopting -- being seen as all-powerful would impact their image heavily)... look at YouTube - just a little bit of curation or moderation of comments would make it a much more sticky and keep folks within the youtube. People desperately want to interact, despite the absolutely inept moderation capabilities, there exist a few gems in the comments.
Google should either be scared or delighted... if Amazon can execute similar to their web and Kindle efforts, they will quickly dominate the AndroidMarket market.
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
Until yesterday I couldn't legitimately sell applications on the market. This was an outstanding issue FOR YEARS. I don't have faith in Google's market and I welcome any competition in the ecosystem. If you don't want to sell on Amazon or Hanster, or whatever the other stores are then don't and live with the fewer sales.
"What happens if cellular carriers want to hop in this pool?"
Nothing has changed since android started. If AT&T really wanted to reinvent their utterly failed business of hosting a carrier locked store, they could have done it from the beginning. If they want to restrict the stock Google experience market (crappy experience but definitive) or maybe a 3rd party repository 'hacked to make all apps free' repository then that's their business. If you have the ability (AKA you're not in rural USA), switch carriers if it annoys you so much.
Bye!
> The shop owner typically decides the selling price.
But the manufacturer/developer decides the price to sell to the shop owner. Bad analogy.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
That's not exactly how it works. First of all, its not exclusive of Google services, and secondly, anyone can install third party apps on their Android phone without rooting it. Feel free to install some other search apk instead.
I guess it kind of depends on how much the provider locked your phone down. If they removed the Google Marketplace and the ability to add a store, I guess you're wrong on that count. What the parent says is that Android's openness gives liberty to the carrier. The carrier will decide what liberty is left to you and what liberty is kept from you. In other word, it's not Android that gives you liberty but it is the phone maker+carrier that may give you freedom. Or rooting, but on that count the iPhone is as open as Android.
Write boring code, not shiny code!
What you are describing is a very important process that is not likely to go away. However, the average joe doesn't necessarily want to tinker with his phone. You know, he just wants it to work. A second (or third?) store, that some carriers will lock in, others lock out, others will propose exclusively isn't necessarily something from which Android will benefit.
Write boring code, not shiny code!
If the store has apps that people want, there will be a pressure for the carriers not to lock it out, or their phones sales will suffer.
Well, carriers preload their phones with huge loads of crap from the dawn of times. Users don't like it, but they keep doing it. Go figure.
Write boring code, not shiny code!
But the manufacturer/developer decides the price to sell to the shop owner. Bad analogy.
The manufacturer/developer decides what price their willing to sell at to the shop, correct. And the shop owner decides what they're willing to pay. And if the manufacturerdeveloper isn't willing to sell at a price that the shop is willing to pay then there's no sale. This is business as normal.
To summarise the summary of the summary: people are a problem. ~ h2g2
I would love to use and develop for a touch screen Kindle running an app-enabled version of android. Most current apps wouldn't run well (or at all) on the battery-sipping processor and low refresh rate screen, but it could be very well suited for more static apps targeting that hardware. You just can't beat the screen and battery life on that device, and apps could help Amazon continue to expand the platform.
You're whining. Multiple stores is good for both you and the customer. If you don't like one store then don't sell in it. Now you have options, and if options are too much for you to handle then maybe you aren't cut out for selling apps in the first place. This isn't charity, you're making money here. Do what it takes or get out of the business.
I'm not aware of one Android device without a cellular radio that Google has officially approved for use with its store.
The Creative Zii Egg
I didn't see any mention of Android Market on the page you cited. As I understand the ordering page, one must order on behalf of a company that will be branding the Zii EGG as its own product. Or do I misunderstand it? Does it have any substantial advantage over Archos 43?
I seem to remember discussion about a big problem with the Android Market being that each app seller had to work out the international tax issues for each country they were selling to. If so, that's a huge problem and maybe Amazon has an opening if they take care of all those messy details like Apple does.
The problem is that some of those "exact" pieces of data are actually quite vague. Maybe it says "read contact data" but it doesn't necessarily tell you for what purpose, or which contacts, or anything really.
Well let's say I make this silly app called "RandomCall+" which just calls a random person on my contact list. It's like drunk dialing for sober people I guess. It is going to tell me it needs permission to read my contact data..well duh. It also has a nice feature (remember the + in the name?) that allows it to conference in another random person, but for that it needs the "read phone state and identity" permission to detect if there is a call in progress already -- that way it knows to go into conference mode. Fair enough, right?
Now you totally want this killer app, so you allow it because it obviously needs those two permissions to function. Well therein lies the problem...the latter also grants it access to your IMEI, IMSI, and device unique identifier, which is phoned home (no pun intended) to the app developer (me!), who then uses that information against you.
So pay attention to those permissions, but don't take them as The [your favorite sacred book here].
Apps
Or in marketing speak, "Amazon Exclusives!"
But what of this "List Price" system in the terms? The formula in the leak makes no sense to me, but it looks like Amazon's aim is to prevent developers pricing their apps lower at competing app stores.
If I could charge what I like when selling my app elsewhere, I wouldn't care what margin Amazon takes. But if they sell the app for $10, and I get $7 back from them, I may want to sell the app for $8 on my own website, so my return is about the same no matter where it is bought. There would be no cross-subsidisation. But I wouldn't be happy if a condition of Amazon listing forced me to sell it for at least $10 outside Amazon.
This is speculation, because, as I said, the way the List Price mechanism is described in the leak makes no sense to me. Anyone understand it?
I do wish it were a bit more granular, but it can't phone home without data access. And if you grant a program access to your phone state and identity, permission to make phone calls, and Internet access, well, you'd better trust that program.
Luckily not everyone think like you, or we would still be on the farm, riding buggies around. I mean who needs more than a farm producing your own food.
Maybe this is not the right site for you.
You are correct, the only fragmentation issue is with regards to developers, who may now need to submit there apps to several different stores, maintaining relationships with a number of different companies, and getting payments all over the shop.
How many will do that? The major ones sure, but it is still a hassle. Maybe this is the intention.
Maybe most people will just wait it out until the biggest store gets traction.
Just what Android needs, more fragmentation.
The Amazon store brings some walled garden stuff, but my fear is that cell phone makers and providers will end up locking phones only to Amazon's store. Of course, they can be rooted so one could use the Google App Store.
In any case, this isn't a boon for developers, mainly because they now have at least two places they must keep their apps updated in.
Um, you have heard of Android tablets, haven't you?
How many of these can access the Google App Store and download apps? I don't know for sure myself, but I cannot do it on my Android tablet. So I'm pleased to find other stores where I can get apps. Heck, I am pleased I can get the Amazon Kindle app without going to the (for me) non-functioning Google App Store.
I am anarch of all I survey.
You won't be buying my apps there as I am not prepared to accept the terms of the Amazon developers agreement. You can use any of the other 5 shops where you can get my apps from.
How does the AOSP relate to the Android Compatibility Program?
The Android Open-Source Project maintains the Android software, and develops new versions. Since it's open-source, this software can be used for any purpose, including to ship devices that are not compatible with other devices based on the same source.
The function of the Android Compatibility Program is to define a baseline implementation of Android that is compatible with third-party apps written by developers. Devices that are "Android compatible" may participate in the Android ecosystem, including Android Market; devices that don't meet the compatibility requirements exist outside that ecosystem.
In other words, the Android Compatibility Program is how we separate "Android compatible devices" from devices that merely run derivatives of the source code. We welcome all uses of the Android source code, but only Android compatible devices -- as defined and tested by the Android Compatibility Program -- may participate in the Android ecosystem.
I am agreed with the point that all the applications must be Tested before sales. This will also give a major chunk of customers. Mobile Spy Software
When you want a camera and your camera is at home, what do you use?
When you need internet access and there isn't a PC in sight or a LAN port to connect one to, what do you use?
Me, I use my music player. It lets me take pictures, access the internet, play videos (useful for TED Talks) and listen to music, all in one handy pocket-sized device.
I find this convenient. Better yet, it also tells me where I am with its built-in GPS system and lets me participate in converstions with my friends, colleagues and random strangers, through instant messaging, Skype, SMS text messages or through POTS.
Obviously carrying a different piece of equipment for all those uses would fill my pockets so full either they'd split and I'd lose it all or my trousers would be pulled down. That might be embarrassing.
Lucky my phone does everything I need it to do, which (lets face it) is a fuck of a lot more than make phone calls.
both could potentially be an issue. And by things, I don't just mean apps - amazon might require that on a phone with amazon's market that it has X feature or Y feature locked, such as tethering or bloatware.