Google reveals open Android Market, rivals iPhone's App Store
Google on Thursday afternoon provided first details of a marketplace for phones based on its Android mobile platform -- including word that its store won't be as tightly monitored as the Apple-run shop for iPhones.
While Google will host the new store, now called Android Market, the company stresses that its role is only to act as a central point of distribution rather than to filter content. The decision on policy is said to have even influenced the formal name for the service.
"We chose the term 'market' rather than 'store' because we feel that developers should have an open and unobstructed environment to make their content available," Google's Eric Chu says.
To that end, Google likens its system to YouTube, where the only requirements are to register as a distributor and to provide a description for the app on the store. The search engine pioneer doesn't say what if any policing it will provide for rogue apps, but explains that the Market will have a feedback and rating system as with its well-known video site.
The store will have a monitoring tool to provide feedback on apps after they're released, the company adds, and will flag an app's features to warn users in advance when they might pose a security risk.
Although Google had already tipped its hand as to its likely direction two months ago in a presentation, the now official status of Android Market puts Google in the unusual position of both challenging and supporting Apple's iPhone software efforts at the same time.
The search firm's resources form the basis of iPhone's Google Maps and Safari search but now indirectly undercut the App Store, whose operating principle is fundamentally different from that in Android's Market. Apple is the sole judge of whether apps will be posted to its service and has already made it a point to pull apps it or its partners consider objectionable, including the recently pulled violent comic Murderdrome, the cosmetic I Am Rich app, and the tethering utility NetShare.
Android will also allow installing apps outside of the Market for most users, while Apple only allows such exceptions for development, education, or enterprise customers.
Google's effort will take some time to appear in users' hands. The first Android phone isn't expected until the fall, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company also cautions that the Market will ship as a beta and that only free apps will be available at first, with a paying system and other aspects only due afterwards.
Nonetheless, Market even in its rough state has the potential to create a greater conflict of interest between Apple and Google; the latter's chief executive, Eric Schmidt, has already had to occasionally leave Apple board meetings when the discussion switched to a handful of iPhone-related topics.
While Google will host the new store, now called Android Market, the company stresses that its role is only to act as a central point of distribution rather than to filter content. The decision on policy is said to have even influenced the formal name for the service.
"We chose the term 'market' rather than 'store' because we feel that developers should have an open and unobstructed environment to make their content available," Google's Eric Chu says.
To that end, Google likens its system to YouTube, where the only requirements are to register as a distributor and to provide a description for the app on the store. The search engine pioneer doesn't say what if any policing it will provide for rogue apps, but explains that the Market will have a feedback and rating system as with its well-known video site.
The store will have a monitoring tool to provide feedback on apps after they're released, the company adds, and will flag an app's features to warn users in advance when they might pose a security risk.
Although Google had already tipped its hand as to its likely direction two months ago in a presentation, the now official status of Android Market puts Google in the unusual position of both challenging and supporting Apple's iPhone software efforts at the same time.
The search firm's resources form the basis of iPhone's Google Maps and Safari search but now indirectly undercut the App Store, whose operating principle is fundamentally different from that in Android's Market. Apple is the sole judge of whether apps will be posted to its service and has already made it a point to pull apps it or its partners consider objectionable, including the recently pulled violent comic Murderdrome, the cosmetic I Am Rich app, and the tethering utility NetShare.
Android will also allow installing apps outside of the Market for most users, while Apple only allows such exceptions for development, education, or enterprise customers.
Google's effort will take some time to appear in users' hands. The first Android phone isn't expected until the fall, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company also cautions that the Market will ship as a beta and that only free apps will be available at first, with a paying system and other aspects only due afterwards.
Nonetheless, Market even in its rough state has the potential to create a greater conflict of interest between Apple and Google; the latter's chief executive, Eric Schmidt, has already had to occasionally leave Apple board meetings when the discussion switched to a handful of iPhone-related topics.
Comments
An app store with no phone yet... hmmmmmm
Is there something wrong with working on a software/app platform before actual hardware is released?
I mean, you DO want it to be functional when the hardware launches, right?
Is there something wrong with working on a software/app platform before actual hardware is released?
I mean, you DO want it to be functional when the hardware launches, right?
Nothing wrong with it. Just seems like putting the cart before the horse.
And I don't see how well it will work in any case. One platform sure. But what type of hardware should developers be developing for? QWERTY? Touch? Phone pad? Seems like a developer's nightmare not knowing what kind of device you are writing code for.
its store won't be as tightly monitored as the Apple-run shop for iPhones.
Awesome, now we can see even more crapware in the Android Market than there is in the App Store. I can't wait to be able to download 200 flashlight apps to my android phone too!
Is there something wrong with working on a software/app platform before actual hardware is released?
I mean, you DO want it to be functional when the hardware launches, right?
Well, I want to have my hardware before the software!!
The point is they should focus on releasing at least one Android based phone first and see how the market will respond. My guess is that they are not getting the amount of attention they anticipated from hardware manufacturers. I love Google but come on.... they have been blowing dust for a year now!!!
And I don't see how well it will work in any case. One platform sure. But what type of hardware should developers be developing for? QWERTY? Touch? Phone pad? Seems like a developer's nightmare not knowing what kind of device you are writing code for.
That's why they're Google and you're...you j/k
In all honesty, there are plenty of mobile phone OS's out there programmed to work with number pads, on-screen displays, and keyboards. Same goes for applications that are designed to work on these operating systems. Input all has to go through a certain API or common interface, so I don't see why this should be a concern?
Anyway, kudos to Google. I'm glad to see them working to develop a way to distribute apps to customers.
Well, I want to have my hardware before the software!!
The point is they should focus on releasing at least one Android based phone first and see how the market will respond. My guess is that they are not getting the amount of attention they anticipated from hardware manufacturers. I love Google but come on.... they have been blowing dust for a year now!!!
So they should take Apple's approach? That doesn't work for every company -- every company is different.
How about having a functional platform ready when the phone launches for applications? I mean, if it can be ready when the first Android phone launches, then what is the big deal?
So they should take Apple's approach? That doesn't work for every company -- every company is different.
How about having a functional platform ready when the phone launches for applications? I mean, if it can be ready when the first Android phone launches, then what is the big deal?
The big deal is that Google will turn into another MS times two if they keep doing this.
Market will ship as a beta
Is this doublespeak for precluding them from providing any semblance of support? And we all know how long Google apps remain beta. *cough* GMail *cough*
I'd still like to hear that Android apps can be loaded directly on the phone, without Android Market registration and tracking.
It nice to have no barriers but it is also nice to have someone watching out for you. The balance between the two is a fine art.
Is this doublespeak for precluding them from providing any semblance of support? And we all know how long Google apps remain beta. *cough* GMail *cough*
I have been using GMail in IMAP mode as a consolidator for several accounts, including business accounts, syncing it with Outlook and Blackberry (sorry, no iphone user yet...). It may be in Beta, but it works flawlessly.
I mean lots of people like to release software for free and all, some great stuff if free and open source, but there are also a lot of people who will want to be paid for their efforts too
I don't see this as an iPhone follow up, or what-have-you; there are only two ways Google could really go with app distribution: centralized or decentralized. They went with a mix. Seems like it could work.
EDIT:
im so sad to see this. this is not revolutionary. just another iphone follow up, even with all that open software. How will Google make their ringtones with no rights from records companies.
Not every product or service can, or should, be revolutionary. Revolutions are good every now and again, but products should evolve more than... revolve. That sounds weird, but you know what I mean!
Those high stakes make it all the more disappointing to find that the Android Market fails to answer the tough issues correctly.
That article is a horrible failure. Let me sum up its key points:
- the significant upsides Android has over Apple's closed system do not matter because carriers in the US will disable them
(Sucks for Americans I guess? This is only a local problem.)
- unless you have an iron grip on your users and developers, and ban general purpose computing, the system cannot possibly be secure
(The writer just had a stroke and forgot all about the existence of non-Windows operating systems, like OS X.)
- unregulated market is too expensive to do business in
(The writer knows fuck all about economics.)