Android Games

by krossbow

Amazon’s Android App Store Will Compete Directly With Googles Android Market
This morning Amazon is officially launching its Android App Store a storefront for apps that will compete directly with Googles official Android Market. We first broke the news about the impending App Store back in September and had some thorough coverage on the details in January when it opened to developer submissions.dell vostro 1000 battery But now the store is finally going live to consumers (it will be rolling out over the course of the day, so you may not be able to access yet). Hp pavilion dv3500 battery And while there were leaks abound about this mornings launch, there are still a few details that Amazon managed to keep quiet.

The biggest one: Amazon will let you Test Drive nearly any Android application in the App Store directly from your browser using some very interesting technology (Update: Amazon says its available for many applications) . Acer aspire 5520 battery Click the Test Drive button, and Amazon will launch an emulated instance of Android on its EC2 cloud, which youll be able to control directly from your browser (it uses Flash). Some features wont work right now (like functions that take advantage of the phones accelerometer) but you should be able to at least get the gist of what youre buying. Amazon was unable to give me early access to this prior to todays launch, dell inspiron 6400 adapter but Ill update with my impressions as soon as I get to try it out.

The other big revelation is Amazons free app-of-the-day. Every day, Amazon will be choosing a premium application and making it free to consumers, giving people a reason to check in on the store on a frequent basis. This is made possible by the fact that Amazon, not developers, sets the pricing of each application. Heres how I described the pricing model in my previous post:

The biggest departure from the mobile app stores weve grown accustomed to involves pricing. Unlike Apples App Store and Android Market, where developers can set their price to whatever theyd like, Amazon retains full control over how it wants to price your application. The setup is a bit confusing: upon submitting your application, you can set a List Price, which is the price youd normally sell it at. Amazon will use a variety of market factors to determine what price it wants to use, and you get a 70% cut of the proceeds of each sale (which is the industry standard). In the event that Amazon steeply discounts your application, or offers it for free, youre guaranteed to get 20% of the List Price.

In other words, if your app gets picked for Amazons deal of the day, youre entitled to 20% of the list price that you previously set. Acer aspire 5520 battery That may not sound like much, but these daily specials are probably going to see download counts that are far higher than normal.

To coincide with the launch, Amazon is also announcing (as has been previously reported) that it has exclusive rights to the Rio version of Angry Birds, which is a tie-in to an upcoming feature film.Hp 484170-001 battery The game will normally sell for 99 cents, but will be available free for a limited time. This is a smart move on Amazons part, as it will give legions of Angry Birds fans a reason to check out the store in the first place (and will also likely prompt word-of-mouth exposure as friends show off their special version of the game to each other).

The App Store is a bold move on Amazons part because its going head-to-head with Googles official Android Marketplace and it may actually provide some serious competition. Hp pavilion dv3500 battery Unlike Android Market, which has a very open submission process, Amazon will be screening every application to ensure that it meets a certain standard of quality (it isnt a high bar, but at least youll be assured the app wont crash at launch). Amazon will also be undercutting Googles marketplace on pricing. dell vostro 1000 battery And its going to be recommending applications to users even when youre browsing physical goods on Amazon (if youre checking out a baseball bat, it might recommend a baseball game for your phone).

Of course, while you can access Amazons App Store from both its website and a mobile application, it isnt coming pre-installed on most Android phones the way Market is, so its going to take a while to gain traction. But that will likely change. Expect Amazon to work out deals with carriers to come preloaded on phones. And my hunch is that the store will become very important for various splintered versions of Android that arent backed by Google, not the least of which could come from Facebook.

Oh, and just in time for the launch, Apple is suing Amazon over its use of the name App Store.

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