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Amazon To Launch 'Amazon Appstore For Android'
angry tapir writes "Amazon is preparing to open an Android app store to compete with Google's Android Market, and has launched a beta portal where developers can submit applications for Android-based smartphones. The applications will be sold on the Amazon Appstore for Android, which the company expects to launch later this year. At launch, the Appstore will be available for customers in the US, and it will be compatible with Android 1.6 and higher. Users will be able to shop for applications from their PCs, which isn't possible with the existing version of Android Market, or from their smartphones, and pay with their existing Amazon account."
What's the point? It's easy enough to share/sell an application on Google's Android App store...
Wouldn't you want your app being recommended by Amazon while you're looking for seemingly releated stuff?
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
"Users will be able to shop for applications from their PCs, which isn't possible with the existing version of Android Market"
Guess they haven't heard about AppBrain.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/appbrain-app-market/com.appspot.swisscodemonkeys.apps
Yes, and this Users will be able to shop for applications from their PCs, which isn't possible with the existing version of Android Market, or from their smartphones, and pay with their existing Amazon account. Didn't RTFS
when the first apps will be remotely removed from phones?
Fandroids hate facts.
Some call it "fragmentation" and some call it "competition"
Unless you want everyone to carry exactly the same hardware, there is bound to be "fragmentation". Why don't they call it "fragmentation" when Chrysler parts don't fit on my Mazda?
You would think that at some point, app programmers, who from what I can tell are the only ones complaining about "fragmentation" would be happy to see lots of different platforms because it means more opportunities.
Maybe it would be easier if there were only one hardware platform for all cell phones and one hardware platform for all computers and one hardware platform for all cars. One operating system. One phone carrier. Then, life would be easy for the few hundred programmers and designers that would have jobs.
You are welcome on my lawn.
in the android world, we call it "choice".
This seemed like a reasonable sig at the time.
The more interesting thing about this store is the terms for developers - almost the same as Apple's store.
$99/Year (I think that's being waved for now)
You can choose to have apps have a DRM wrapper (of Amazons design)
Amazon gets 30% of sales
I think potentially this could become THE app store for Android, because it will be probably about as carefully maintained as Apple's App store. No way is Amazon going to let through some things like blatant copyright infringement apps that get into the Android store today. As a result the apps to be found there should be of a generally higher level of quality.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Stop talking.
In this comment in a different thread (http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1936596&cid=34765090, relevant portion reproduced below) you complain about the Mac App Store with regard to it being a "monopoly store."
In fact there is a regression here as now we have a monopoly store as opposed to all sorts of vendors fighting it out using all sorts of sales channels. Apple, Inc now dictates prices, margins, selections, censorship, etc.
However, in the comment to which I'm replying (relevant portion reproduced below) you complain about the Amazon App Store with regard to fragmentation and lock-in.
These stupid stores will lead to lock-in and fragmentation.
First, there's no indication that this could lead to lock-in. Amazon has not expressed any interest in pursuing exclusivity deals with carriers/device makers.
Second, what the hell! If there's only one store it's a monopoly, but if there are more than one the platform is fragmented? You can't have it both ways!
I'm an Android app developer, and under the terms Amazon's currently offering, there's no way in hell I'll put my app there. There are three very serious problems with it. First, Amazon controls the pricing, not the developer - they can use your app as a loss leader. Second, they require that you give them your app and each update 14 days before you publish it anywhere else (such as on the Android Market) for their review process. That means no emergency fixes, and delayed releases, even if you're mainly publishing on the Android Market and want to put it on Amazon too. And third, it's competing with Android Market, which is preinstalled everywhere, with no users. It would be one thing if they offered more than Android Market's 70% take, but there're simply no advantages to it whatsoever.
Maybe they'll change their terms, and I'll reconsider. But the terms they're offering now are simply a bad deal for developers, and I doubt many will bite.