Amazon announces Appstore for Android and Apple sues

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 23 March 2011 08:37

Your IT - Mobility

Amazon has launched its Appstore for Android, with an innovative try-before-you-buy feature. Apple's response: a trademark infringement suit.

The Amazon Appstore for Android gives customers a chance to try apps before purchasing via a simulated Android phone that runs in a computer's web browser. 

"Test Drive lets customers truly experience an app before they commit to buying. It is a unique, new way to shop for apps," said Paul Ryder, vice president of electronics for Amazon.com. The simulator runs on Amazon's Elastic Computer Cloud (EC2) service.

The Appstore for Android allows apps to be purchased on a computer or directly to an Android device via the Amazon Appstore for Android app. Installing that app is a someone involved - though one-off - operation.

There's also the promise that a normally paid app will be available free of charge each day. That offer started with Angry Birds Rio (usually $US0.99), a movie tie-in version of the popular game from Rovio.

Other participating developers include Adobe (Photoshop Express, Reader, etc), Evernote, and Glu Mobile (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2; Guitar Hero 5, etc).

Developers that wish to sell their wares through Amazon's Appstore have a tough decision to make, and Apple has already taken aim at the name Amazon's given to its new venture - see page 2.