Amazon.com opened its Appstore for Android for business March 22, allowing users to try out apps before they download and pay for them. The store rivals Google's Android Market.
Amazon.com March
22 opened its
Amazon
Appstore for Android, offering free and paid applications based on
the open-source operating system, albeit with some features that differentiate
it from Google's competing Android Market.
While the
Android Market lets users download free and paid applications, the Amazon
Appstore will let users test applications they're interested in on a simulated
Android phone. Customers access the application simulation through their computer
using a mouse. The company calls this feature Test Drive.
With Test
Drive, consumers can decide if they like the application before bothering to
download it. This is a clever feature distinction from Google's Android Market.
One of the
chief knocks against the Market is that it doesn't make it easy for users to
find applications to download. Despite the presence of a search bar, the Market
did not have any other feature to help users slog their way through 150,000 applications.
By contrast,
Test Drive will help mobile-applications consumers sift through the
3,800 applications in the Amazon Appstore. This
is particularly important for paid applications so users don't spend money
without being certain they're going to like what they purchase.
"Test
Drive lets customers truly experience an app before they commit to buying. It
is a unique, new way to shop for apps," Paul Ryder, vice president of
electronics for Amazon.com, said in a
statement.
Amazon.com is
also offering another perk to bring users into the Appstore. The company partnered
with Rovio Mobile to launch Angry Birds Rio for Android exclusively in its
Appstore, allowing customers to download it for free for a limited time. Also
exclusively, the company will launch ad-free versions of Angry Birds and Angry
Birds Seasons.
Moreover, the
Appstore will offer customers a paid application for free every day. Developers
suggest a price for paid applications, but Amazon
could sell the applications for less to undercut applications on the Android
Market. Amazon will pay developers the greater of either the standard 70
percent of the sale price, or 20 percent of the price the developer suggests
the application sells for.
Customers can
buy applications in the Appstore in two ways. Users may buy applications
through their computer's Web browser, or through an Amazon Appstore application
they may download to their Android phones or tablets.
Amazon.com
should be able to draw consumers in to the Appstore by parlaying its
personalized recommendation engine by suggesting applications users might be
interested in based on their previous purchases and browsing activity on the
e-commerce Website. Customer reviews and one-click payment options will also be
potential hooks.
While the
Amazon Appstore for Android will compete with the Android Market, it's also a
stepping stone to compete with Apple's App Store, which offers some 350,000 applications
for iPhone and iPad users.
Apple didn't
take kindly to Amazon's Appstore nomenclature and on March 18 filed suit
against Amazon.com for trademark infringement, claiming ownership of the App
Store name.
"We've
asked Amazon not to copy the App Store name because it will confuse and mislead
customers," Apple told
The New York Times.
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