On Blogwatch this week; Google keeps on dominating the blogs, with news of its Android Application Store and Cloud browser, and the evolution of 3G comes in for scrutiny.
It was inevitable that having seen the success of Apple’s iPhone Apps Store, that rivals would seek to emulate the model. First up, Google. The Internet giant announced its plans for an application store this week. Silicon Alley Insider investigates the difference between the “Android Market” and the Apple store.
The big difference: Apple runs it own store with a pretty firm hand. If you want in, you've got play by their rules. But Google has an open door policy: Developers who want to put their program on the market just register, upload, and they're in business. Good news for developers, right? Open access to a platform supported by the biggest player in tech? You bet. But there is a downside: While everything on Apple app store has the Steve Jobs seal of approval, Google's shop is going to be a caveat emptor proposition. Which means that a bunch of Android users are likely to get some bum apps. If that happens too often, that's going to diminish Android's appeal, and have developers begging for a firm hand.
Rival site Valleywag has it’s own take on the news:
Don't call it an app store — it's an open content distribution system. Android Market will be Google's version of the iPhone App Store. A PR-speak description of the site emphasizes that posting apps for sale will be a lot like uploading videos to YouTube. But with iPhone app developers already posing as punk-rock heroes, how much more developer-friendly does Google really need to be? A screenshot from the not-yet-launched store seems designed to appeal to wonky coders, not the mass market of non-technical buyers Google will need to attract.
This from Googlewatch:
All the pieces are coming together. Several programmers have written Android apps. Two weeks ago, Android launched an SDK and OS road map, and unveiled Market, a place to buy the apps. What's missing? Oh yeah, the devices. Until the HTC Dream and other Android-based smart phones of its ilk come to the fore in the fall, it's hard to get too excited about these supporting ecosystem moves. I look forward to the first gadgets based on Android and hope for Google's sake that they are comparable to the first iPhone in user experience. If they are subpar, Android will be deemed a failure and Google will swallow a bitter pill. Gadgetheads are a merciless lot and will show the search engine no quarter if Android phones aren't as good as, if not better than, the best handhelds from Apple, Nokia, RIM, Palm and Microsoft.
MoCoNews adds its two cents:
On the business side of the house, details are foggy. Google said that the first phones will have a beta version of Android market, and at the minimum, it will support free applications. After launch, Google will work towards adding paid content and more features, such as being able to upload a new version of the application. But who knows what kind of revenue splits we are talking about.
Not to be outdone, news breaks that Microsoft (remember them?) is also getting into the game. Anyone want a job with the “Skymarket”? If so, time to brush up your CV and get your skates on, as Apple Insider believes Microsoft is hiring:
The project, tentatively called "Skymarket," was revealed in a job listing Microsoft posted earlier today at computerjobs.com for a Senior Product Manager to oversee a marketplace service for Windows Mobile. According to the job listing, Microsoft doesn't plan to commercially launch Skymarket until the release of Windows Mobile 7, slated for late 2009. However, the company does hope to find someone who can handle "driving the cross group collaboration for the initial launch of the marketplace offering to the developer community this fall." The posting also indicates Microsoft hasn't made much progress so far about its conceptual goals for the store.
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