Amazon flings open doors to Android Appstore in Europe
At what point does choice turn into fragmentation?
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Amazon's Android Appstore is now open for business in Europe, providing a branded alternative to Google Play, and a free app every day, in preparation for the forthcoming Kindle Fire.
The Kindle Fire has been on sale in the US for nine months now, and is entirely dependent on the Amazon Appstore, so that store was going to have to jump the pond ahead of the hardware. The fact that it has now done so points to the Amazon hardware arriving on this side of the pond next week, though probably not the existing model.
The Kindle Fire is a seven-inch Android tablet, but while the Android OS is free, the bundled software isn't. So manufacturers wanting to include Google Play (the store), Google Maps and Gmail on their gear have to hand over substantial amounts of cash. Google Play isn't even available to download, so if your device manufacturer hasn't paid the Google tax then you're not allowed in the store (unless you hack your way in).
Google Maps can be downloaded, though Reuters is now reporting that Amazon has been cosying up with Apple to use Cupertino's alternative.
When it comes to app stores, Android devices have always had alternatives, including GetJar and SlideMe, but Amazon's store is significant thanks to its brand and the innovative approach to pricing which provides much more flexibility than Google can offer.
Developers submitting to Amazon's store don't set their price, only what they would like to get. Amazon reserves the right to discount that price, or create app bundles, promising only a fraction to the developer, and nothing at all if the developer agrees to become the Free App of the day.
At first glance that policy seems to mean higher prices, but the ability to compare is welcome and given the daily freebie there seems little reason not to install the store. We did, and had a little difficultly as it picked up our Amazon.com credentials from a previous install, but clearing down and installing again fixed that, so we can now impulse-buy apps just as easily as anything else from Amazon. ®
COMMENTS
Re: Android
[EPIC FAILURE]
Wow, how lazy are u?
Your fingers broken or something?
At least droid is not stuck with one store with temperamental censors. If you don't find it in one store, you CAN try another. With iOS if it's not in the nanny guarded wall play pen, it doesn't exist!]
Would have been interested
I would have been interested in this when it appeared a while ago.
But now, there isn't really any point to it, according to our American brethren Amazon just releases junk free apps of the day and it conflicts with google play bought apps.
Likewise, I would have been interested in buying a Kindle Fire if they'd appeared at the same time as the US. But they didn't. Amazon screwed up and Google has won on this side of the pond for apps on Android, they dragged their feet and let the Nexus 7 pass them by.
I just have no interest in this and I suspect a lot of other European Android users feel the same.
Re: Android
You are comparing a simple ability to find what you want (application-wise) online... by say, googling for it with writing of the 4-line bash script?
Wow... standards have indeed fallen these days. I guess in 10 years even mere searching would be considered an intellectual chore.
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