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VIRTUALISATION LG ‘snapps’ into action with ‘App Store’ live beta
VIRTUALISATION LG ‘snapps’ into action with ‘App Store’ live beta | LG ‘snapps’ into action with ‘App Store’ live beta |
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| by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Monday, 20 July 2009 | |
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Seemingly unable to come up with a snazzier name at this time, the store’s official title is the “LG Application Store”, available from www.lgapplication.com. While it will first launch in Asia, LG promises the service will expand to 24 countries including Australia. That said, we had a look at the site just now, and noticed that an Australian portal is already open, offering a “25% off opening special” on what appears to be largely Windows Mobile Apps. While the page was loading, I also noticed that it flicked over to “Handango” for something, which likely means that LG is leveraging Handango’s store for Windows Mobile customers until apps for LG’s own operating system are unveiled, so it would appear that the current Australian LG app store will undergo so massive changes over the next few months. Although Apple currently has 65,000 apps and will surely have tens of thousands more by year’s end, LG says it “expects to offer up to 2,000 applications on its site by the end of year with at least 100 programs available free of charge to LG handset users.” This contrasts with many thousands of free apps on the iPhone, and while actual pricing for the apps LG’s store delivers is as yet unknown, we can only hope it rapidly emulates the competitive nature of the Apple app store, and avoids the higher prices seen on Nokia’s Ovi store. Dr. Skott Ahn, CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company, said: “As we’ve announced earlier, LG is planning to invest heavily in the smartphone market going forward, with ten smartphones being introduced this year alone. “As the trend has shown, the appeal of smartphones is in the diversity and usefulness of the applications. Opening our own Application Store will allow us to offer the best content and applications for our devices so that LG phone owners will get the best possible ownership experience.” LG is also potentially taking a swing at all of the “fart apps” on Apple’s App Store, noting that it wishes to “ensure that the applications available in LG’s Application Store is of the highest quality”, and that it will do this (in conjunction with content providers) by applying “rigorous quality testing before [any software is] made available for download to ensure ‘bug-free’ operation.” Hmm, if only it were that easy, eh? Why has no software developer ever thought of trying to write “bug-free” software before?! The world would be a different place… and software developers likely wouldn’t make as much money! So, what else does LG have to say about its new application store – and plans for software developers? Continued… |
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