Google doesn’t have to worry about many things in life. CEO Eric Schmidt felt confident enough to dismiss the challenge from Facebook this week, though he admitted some jitters about Microsoft Bing. The one that should be keeping him awake at night, in the mobile world at least, is Amazon, which is reported to be building its own Android app store to rival the Android Market.
As in many aspects of Android ‘ the user interface, the store, even the devices ‘ Google had expected to run the store entirely, and for all the Android ecosystem to support it. Instead, vendors are creating their own overlays and carriers are putting Android apps in their own shopfronts, like Verizon’s VCast Store. That may be irritating for the search giant, but at least carriers are usually disastrous at mobile software services ‘ just look at Vodafone 360, whose architect, Pieter Knook, is leaving the company. But Amazon is a wholly different story – the master of the usable, addictive web-based store experience, and Apple-like in the tight control it exerts over its platforms. None of that woolly sounding talk about openness and free content for Amazon.
Citing sources which were under non-disclosure agreements, the TechCrunch blog reported that Amazon plans to sell premium and free Android applications and will deter developers from discounting their products in rival shops, by offering them either 70% of the app purchase price (standard practise), or 20% of the list price on the purchase date.
Like other Amazon extensions like its movie rental and Kindle ebook services, the Amazon Android Store will initially be confined to the US, but will move to other territories over time. All apps will include digital rights management so that they only run on devices approved by the huge online retailer, and like Apple, it will charge a $99 annual registration fee. This could be a deterrent to some programmers, but Amazon will hope the vendors of higher value apps will believe it worthwhile to gain the benefits of the firm’s huge brand and consumer reach, as well as its flexible and easy discovery and payment processes.
In addition, Amazon has launched Kindle Web, which allows users to read or sample ebooks from their browsers without downloading them or installing an application. This taps into the trend for content to be streamed, and stored in the cloud, rather than downloaded and could be suited to emerging types of devices, such as the planned ‘cloudbooks’ running Google’s forthcoming Chrome OS. Kindle Web will allow users to read the first chapter of a book free and share it through social networks or email. The system will be optimized for mobile browsers in future.
This is another way to boost content sales by ensuring that Amazon’s Kindle publishing platform is on every possible device and suits every reading habit, from the high quality, conventional reading experience of the Kindle ereader, to the more social-oriented web service. It has also promised a Kindle downloadable app for the new RIM PlayBook, to join those for the iPhone, Android and other mobile devices.
Kindle for the Web is officially a beta product for now but is already available. It resembles Scribd, which refers to itself as ‘YouTube for documents’ but is more focused on free content.