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."
Re:Not because there's only 1 (Score:1, Informative)
iPhone 3G vs. iPhone 2.5G
Malware sites (Score:4, Informative)
And how long before the malware stores pop up for the unsuspecting?
That's at least one benefit to a manufacturer run app store.
RIM has its own App Store, too (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Just give it up... (Score:3, Informative)
"Outside the US, it it just a matter of time before Symbian and other platforms join PalmOS as interesting historical tidbits."
Ever seen some sales figures? Symbian currently is the OS on around 50% of all 'phones sold (and 40% of all smart phones) around the world. Thats more than the nearest 4 competitors combined (and that includes apple).
The US market is very limited and isolated in some senses because US patent laws restrict what can be sold in the US. In the free world we have the ability to buy 'phones which offer equivalent functionality and not pick 'phones based on who has the most patents.
Re:Nokia will officially launch an app store.. (Score:4, Informative)
Apparently you have never used an S60 phone. It already has the basic mechanisms in place in the download section in the main menu. All Nokia has to do is market the server side to developers.
Mart
Re:Third-party app stores are coming, too! (Score:4, Informative)
Although I would say that your 'app store' isn't so much an 'app store' as a 'game store', I think my biggest beef with all of the 'app stores' out there is that they already existed in one form or another.
One of the biggest sites for mobile downloads, for example, is Handango. It carries utilities, tools, games, etc. for all of the open platforms (e.g. no iPhone, obviously).
So the availability has never been a problem, and opening a new 'app store' that does much the same isn't going to make things much better.
( I will say, though, that judging by the flashy banners, you guys are at least offering a little extra (e.g. the subscription plan and the app that will let users keep an eye on apps from their own mobile device )
The reason the Apple app store is as successful as it is, is because you can manage everything from that single site - browsing, buying, downloading, installing. Once installed, it's also guaranteed to *work* on your mobile device; yes, I know, that's rather easy since there only really is 1 'device', but if you keep in mind how many of the apps for, say, Windows Mobile come in at least 2 different flavors just to deal with square display vs 4:3 display devices, not to mention the resolution separation, then a user easily gets lost.
Thankfully, you were smart enough to add a filter-by-phone so that only compatible games are listed... but then you have to make absolutely sure you get (or collect) the correct information and you have to keep up-to-date on all of the different phone models out there... that's nearly a day-job for one of your staff.
Anyway - good luck with the site, it looks polished (I'm not a big fan of the animated bits, but I know your target audience is), the featureset and what-does-it-offer-extra-over-other-sites looks pretty good (for those who missed it - click on a game, there's a good chance you can play it on-line for 10 minutes so you can decide whether or not it's something you'd like to actually buy... that's brilliant), it's a bit slow to navigate at the moment but that might just be other slashdotters eating your bandwidth a bit.
Re:Only one Android phone? So what (Score:3, Informative)
Dominant and competitive are two separate beasts. The G1, or Android in general, need not dominate the market to be successful.
Re:Not because there's only 1 (Score:5, Informative)
I've had an iPhone, and currently own a T-Mobile G1. In short, Android is a solid competitor (the only competitor IMO) to the iPhone OS. The actual G1 phone however, sucks big time, as GP suggests, though he didn't get close as to why:
- The speaker slot gets clogged with lint, and now I have trouble hearing the phone
- While the camera has auto-focus and more pixels than iPhone, HTC screwed up with a crappy lens that ruins all photos
- There's no headphone jack. Instead, HTC provides crappy headphones using a non-standard extension to the micro-USB jack
- The phone is too thick, and not nearly as sleek or well designed or packaged as the iPhone
- The battery is tiny in comparison to the iPhone.
Basically, some US company (Qualcom? T-Mobile?) must have said "Here's the specs for you, HTC", and then HTC delivered on the specs, but screwed up the phone.
While there are fewer users of the G1, there are proportionally fewer developers. Many of the best application spaces are already dominated on iPhone, while they're still open on Android. I believe that future Android phones will gain in market share vs iPhone, making development for Android a wise choice.
Re:Microsoft might have a chance, but... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Malware? (Score:3, Informative)
I am hesitant to download free stuff to me mobile that hasn't been checked for malware.
How about free as in freedom? [sourceforge.net]
Re:Not because there's only 1 (Score:4, Informative)
I have a G1 and an iPod touch. If I am somewhere with wifi I find myself using the iPod to surf the net or check email. I thought I would prefer the G1 for the keyboard, but I don't think it's interface is that great, the apps I get are either buggy, not very useful or not very well done and it seems to hang a lot.
Re:App Store anti-Competitive (Score:2, Informative)