Competition For the App Store Is Mounting 136
MojoKid writes "Right now the only real 'competition' to Apple's App Store is the Android Market. Presently, anyone using an Android-based phone can download applications from the Android Market, which first started offering free applications in October '08. A drawback to Android application developers, however, is the fact that the potential Android Market user base is fairly small right now, as there is presently only one Android phone available, the T-Mobile G1. However, in the coming months we're also going to see more app stores come online for additional smartphone platforms. Nokia will officially launch an app store for its Symbian OS-based smartphones at Mobile World Congress on Monday. Microsoft is also getting in the game for smartphones that run the Windows Mobile OS, with Steve Ballmer delivering the keynote speech at Mobile World Congress as well."
Not because there's only 1 (Score:3, Insightful)
A drawback to Android application developers, however, is the fact that the potential Android Market user base is fairly small right now, as there is presently only one Android phone available, the T-Mobile G1.
No, there's only one iPhone too... the drawback is that no one wants a G1, because it's a cheep plasticy lump of crap.
Is it? (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't really have a dog in this fight - my brother owns an iPod Touch and I have a Blackberry Curve - but it doesn't seem to me that there's much competition on any front for Apple's App Store. For most of the smart phones I wouldn't even consider buying software (I don't think my Curve delivers an experience that I want - I would rather use other portable devices to do what software could do).
The one thing that may be able to mount a challenge is the DSi's app store - but here in Japan where the DSi is already out, I am not really getting the impression that it is a must have feature.
Until someone is even mildly successful in the area, no one competition is really "mounting" for the app store.
Only one Android phone? So what (Score:3, Insightful)
There is only one iPhone, but App developers haven't stopped producing. I like the G1 better than the iPhone since it includes a slide-out keyboard and still packs in all the other features of an iPhone. Once the G1 has been around for longer and Android gets more market share I expect the Android Market to go head to head with the App Store.
Re:Just give it up... (Score:3, Insightful)
Apple's biggest cock-up is restricting carrier choice. I own an iPod touch and the platform is excellent, I'd love to have an iPhone but the UK Operator 02 has notoriously bad reception in my area. For business use we have established contracts and call rates as well as supporting infrastructure to reduce the cost of our calls from office to mobile. We are not going to change all that simply to get a new phone. We pay around £300 for our SmartPhones, hardware cost is not really the issue.
Jason
Only one Android phone available (Score:2, Insightful)
A drawback to Android application developers, however, is the fact that the potential Android Market user base is fairly small right now, as there is presently only one Android phone available, the T-Mobile G1.
You mean as opposed to the several dozen different phones Apple has on the market? Way to end a horribly fragmented run-on sentence with a cringe inducing logical fallacy, buddy.
Re:Not because there's only 1 (Score:3, Insightful)
One important thing for developers is that you can develop on any platform for the G1 with the G1 dev kit.
You have to purchase an Apple computer to develop for the iPhone.
Re:Not because there's only 1 (Score:5, Insightful)
I for one extremely dislike virtual keyboards. It's quite clumsy to type on them, unless you have a stylus, and even then I'd prefer Graffiti.
Not to mention that they are impossible to use by blind people, and hard to use by visually-impaired people.
Sure, I know Slashdot readers don't give a fuck about the needs of impaired people - but it's a minority that has otherwise great potential. I'd love to see manufacturers targeting specifically blind and visually-impaired people as part of their strategy.
Re:Just give it up... (Score:3, Insightful)
I think the previous poster was trolling. If not, then they are just engaging in wishful thinking if they believe Apple can drop prices hundreds or thousands of dollars and make it up in volume.
Show me another machine with the specs of the MBP that is as thin and cool.
This is exactly what starts yet another in the unstoppable chain of price and feature comparisons between Apple and other vendors and it is pointless in the extreme. No one here is going to do a comprehensive look or be able to find machines that are truly comparable not only in bullet point features but in hardware reliability, included support, and integration all of which are important to the value of the end product.
There have been studies performed on this topic already. I wish I had a good one handy. The best was the Consumer Reports one, but you need a subscription. In any case, the verdict is in. Macs cost more than the average PC by about 15%, which is to say about the same amount as other "premium" vendors like Sony, but Apple manages to win on reliability and support every year by a significant margin. (It's up to the individual to decide if that is worth it to them and hey, props to Dell for the massive improvements to their laptop reliability in the last year.) Apple undercuts other vendors a little bit on the low end and overcharges a bit more on the high end and on upgrade parts.
Now people need to get over it. Whether you are a fanboy or a hater, just give it up. Digging up prices and stats online, once is useless. You can't get a large enough sample size to be useful, you can't properly compare features that don't show up in the marketing literature, and your results will vary widely based upon when in the release cycles you make the comparison.
Please never, ever, ever, ever again ask someone to show you another machine that compares to MacFoo from Apple. It just leads to another long, pointless thread.
Re:Not because there's only 1 (Score:3, Insightful)
People who don't live in sunny California who have to wear gloves for part of the year. It's actually been the deciding factor around our Toronto office when coworkers have been picking their new smart phone. Most have been opting for non-touch screen phones, or the Blackberry Storm. The inability to use the iPhone without hassle while you're on the go has ruined its chances of entering the business market.
I live in a cold weather area and I have never owned a cellphone that I could use properly with gloves on.
Application deployment (Score:3, Insightful)
The App Store is the most important thing the iPhone has going for it. I have a Blackberry through work and enjoy using it (because it's free!), but getting apps is such a pain in the ass that the only thing I've installed is the Google package.
It would be nice if desktop OSes had an easy way to find and install new programs as well. Oh wait ... BSD and Linux do have such a place! How has Apple not jumped on that?
Apple leads, the rest follow (Score:1, Insightful)
Andriod / Google phone is a failure... (Score:1, Insightful)
The T Mobile G1 phone is a substandard piece of plastic lacking finish. Better handsets need to appear.
For a phone / phone software to get popular, the most important factor is not jailbreaking, but unlocking the phone to use with different carriers (iPhone is a good example.) The G1 phone has crazy restrictions for it to work on a non TMobile network.
I purchased a G1 handset and paid to get it unlocked. Even after unlocking, the phone will work only if it is authorized on Google Servers with a Google account. That happens only through a T Mobile G1 data plan. (Some forums say you can put an AT&T SIM card with a data plan and it will authorize G1, but that did not work for me.)
I sold the handset. Many like myself are not going to look at a G1 phone or its variants from TMobile again.