With the Android mobile application store now open for business, hot new apps are flooding in from developers -- including the platform's first Twitter client and a mobile weather alert program.
Twidroid is a full-featured Twitter client, launched just as the Android Market opened its doors for developers to register to add their wares to the listings.
The Weather Channel's Android application, which rocketed to the top of Android's most popular software applications shortly after its debut, delivers severe weather alerts based on Android devices' built-in GPS, which it uses to pinpoint users' locations.
The new apps may bode well for Android, the open source smartphone operating system built by Google and the Open Handset Alliance, which is seeking to gain traction in a space dominated by tightly controlled software models. While the T-Mobile G1 handset, built by HTC, is the only smartphone currently built on Android, a number of other handset manufacturers have plans to embrace the operating system.
Key to Android's future success may be its support for mobile software developers, by way of its Android Market. Experts believe mobile software development will be a key differentiator in the competitive smartphone industry going forward.
Their predictions are already being borne out: Apple, for instance, is doing a brisk business with its own iPhone App Store, which last week notched its 200-millionth download. Currently, the four-month-old iPhone App Store has around 5,500 apps. Apple's mobile application store also launched with more than 10 times the applications Android offered through its Market, which debuted with 62 downloads.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Android certainly aren't alone in the downloads space: Research in Motion plans an application store around its BlackBerry, while Microsoft has given hints about a similar offering for Windows Mobile.
Despite the looming competition, Android's backers and users have high hopes for its Market thanks to its design. There is a one-time $25 application development fee and each application must be registered as part of Google's authentication process. According to the official Android Market blog, "Once registered, apps can be made available to users without further validation or approval."
That approach -- along with the possibility of being able to provide apps compatible with a wide array of Android phones -- is winning fans.
"As an open source platform, anyone can contribute to Android," said Ralph Zimmerman, one of the developers behind Twidroid. "I see potential in the unified platform, which maybe pressures Apple's iPhone to open up a bit."
For now, Android Market apps are free. Developers will be able to begin charging for their applications by early 2009, in a revenue split that Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) has said would allow them to retain 70 percent of revenue, with the remainder going to carriers and to billing settlement fees. Google has said it would not take a percentage.
"We believe this revenue model creates a fair and positive experience for users, developers, and carriers," according to the Android Market blog.
Zimmerman and his Twidroid co-developer, Thomas Marban, decided to create his client for the microblogging service after attending a Google Developer Day in Munich, Germany, last month.
"We were inspired by a presentation about the Android platform," Zimmermann told InternetNews.com. "The first application that came to our mind to build for this new platform was a Twitter client ... "For me, Twitter has replaced RSS feeds as the way I keep current in my work," said the freelance developer and co-founder of TripSailor.com, a social network site for sailors.
Still, it may not all be smooth sailing for Marban and Zimmerman. In his Twidroid announcement, Marban said updates may be delayed since the G1 that the developers had been using for testing has become inoperable due to an unspecified display issue, and he's looking for a replacement.
The allure of Android also captured the attention of The Weather Channel, which designed an application that enables G1 users to receive location-based forecasts -- described by the company as the most "precise" forecast available on a mobile device.
Within hours of its launch, the application rose to become the most downloaded application available on Android Market. That may not be surprising: Weather news is the most frequently accessed content category on mobile devices, according to a September report by M Metrics.
The Weather Channel application was one of the top 50 software packages singled out for an award during the Android Developer Challenge held earlier this year. As a semifinalist, The Weather Channel Mobile team received a $25,000 cash prize that it is donating to the National Science & Technology Education Partnership.
"The Weather Channel Mobile has been a leader in the mobile space for nearly ten years, and during that time we've learned what users want in a mobile experience," Louis Gump, vice president of mobile for The Weather Channel Interactive, said in a statement.
The application is free, while a fee-based version is in the planning stage, according to The Weather Channel.
Source : http://www.internetnews.com/
Twidroid is a full-featured Twitter client, launched just as the Android Market opened its doors for developers to register to add their wares to the listings.
The Weather Channel's Android application, which rocketed to the top of Android's most popular software applications shortly after its debut, delivers severe weather alerts based on Android devices' built-in GPS, which it uses to pinpoint users' locations.
The new apps may bode well for Android, the open source smartphone operating system built by Google and the Open Handset Alliance, which is seeking to gain traction in a space dominated by tightly controlled software models. While the T-Mobile G1 handset, built by HTC, is the only smartphone currently built on Android, a number of other handset manufacturers have plans to embrace the operating system.
Key to Android's future success may be its support for mobile software developers, by way of its Android Market. Experts believe mobile software development will be a key differentiator in the competitive smartphone industry going forward.
Their predictions are already being borne out: Apple, for instance, is doing a brisk business with its own iPhone App Store, which last week notched its 200-millionth download. Currently, the four-month-old iPhone App Store has around 5,500 apps. Apple's mobile application store also launched with more than 10 times the applications Android offered through its Market, which debuted with 62 downloads.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Android certainly aren't alone in the downloads space: Research in Motion plans an application store around its BlackBerry, while Microsoft has given hints about a similar offering for Windows Mobile.
Despite the looming competition, Android's backers and users have high hopes for its Market thanks to its design. There is a one-time $25 application development fee and each application must be registered as part of Google's authentication process. According to the official Android Market blog, "Once registered, apps can be made available to users without further validation or approval."
That approach -- along with the possibility of being able to provide apps compatible with a wide array of Android phones -- is winning fans.
"As an open source platform, anyone can contribute to Android," said Ralph Zimmerman, one of the developers behind Twidroid. "I see potential in the unified platform, which maybe pressures Apple's iPhone to open up a bit."
For now, Android Market apps are free. Developers will be able to begin charging for their applications by early 2009, in a revenue split that Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) has said would allow them to retain 70 percent of revenue, with the remainder going to carriers and to billing settlement fees. Google has said it would not take a percentage.
"We believe this revenue model creates a fair and positive experience for users, developers, and carriers," according to the Android Market blog.
Zimmerman and his Twidroid co-developer, Thomas Marban, decided to create his client for the microblogging service after attending a Google Developer Day in Munich, Germany, last month.
"We were inspired by a presentation about the Android platform," Zimmermann told InternetNews.com. "The first application that came to our mind to build for this new platform was a Twitter client ... "For me, Twitter has replaced RSS feeds as the way I keep current in my work," said the freelance developer and co-founder of TripSailor.com, a social network site for sailors.
Still, it may not all be smooth sailing for Marban and Zimmerman. In his Twidroid announcement, Marban said updates may be delayed since the G1 that the developers had been using for testing has become inoperable due to an unspecified display issue, and he's looking for a replacement.
The allure of Android also captured the attention of The Weather Channel, which designed an application that enables G1 users to receive location-based forecasts -- described by the company as the most "precise" forecast available on a mobile device.
Within hours of its launch, the application rose to become the most downloaded application available on Android Market. That may not be surprising: Weather news is the most frequently accessed content category on mobile devices, according to a September report by M Metrics.
The Weather Channel application was one of the top 50 software packages singled out for an award during the Android Developer Challenge held earlier this year. As a semifinalist, The Weather Channel Mobile team received a $25,000 cash prize that it is donating to the National Science & Technology Education Partnership.
"The Weather Channel Mobile has been a leader in the mobile space for nearly ten years, and during that time we've learned what users want in a mobile experience," Louis Gump, vice president of mobile for The Weather Channel Interactive, said in a statement.
The application is free, while a fee-based version is in the planning stage, according to The Weather Channel.
Source : http://www.internetnews.com/
