Android app story comes into focus

Apple’s iPhone has succeeded by putting the emphasis on a best-in-class browser and slick, usable apps delivered via its App Store. Google’s Android team detailed a similar path in announcements this week, but countered Apple’s approval-required store with an open marketplace approach where any developer can market and distribute its applications directly to users.

The new Android Market is described as an “open content distribution system” – developers will upload, host and distribute applications with little to no interference from Google. The search giant said it would also provide developer dashboards and analytics to help developers monitor the distribution and use of their creations.

This runs counter to the iPhone App Store, in which Apple must approve any application before it can be placed in the store. Apple has also shown it is not afraid to take down any application it believes violates the terms of the store.

Android’s more “open” approach isn’t surprising, given the overall projects open source roots and philosophy. However, Apple’s success in the mobile (and music) markets can be attributed in large part for its decision to keep tight design and quality control over all aspects of the process, from hardware to software to online services like iTunes and the App Store.
In announcing the Android App Market, Google also indicated that hoped to cut deals with carrier partners to make the application store built into phones. “Developers can expect the first handsets to be enabled with a beta version of Android Market,” said Eric Chu, Google’s mobile platform project manager, in a posting on the Android blog. “Some decisions are still being made, but at a minimum you can expect support for free (unpaid) applications. Soon after launch an update will be provided that supports download of paid content and more features such as versioning, multiple device profile support, analytics, etc.”

So what kind of apps can we expect in the Android Market. Also this week, Google announced the winners of its Android developer contest. The winners included cab4me, a cab-finding application; CompareEverywhere, a comparison shopping engine; TuneWiki, a social media player; and more.