Hasta La Gadget!

There’s now little doubt that Amazon — for reasons that may or may not be borne of sound mind — is hard at work setting up its own app store ecosystem for Android devices. We’ve got a tiny bit more evidence of that today in the form of the complete welcome kit being sent out to prospective developers; there’s not anything too mind-boggling in here, but let’s break down some of the key points:

• From the wording, there’s no question that the system is exclusive to Android — at least initially.
• Amazon is already accepting submissions, but only of promotional materials and other non-app assets; presumably, they’re trying to make sure they’ve got critical mass before deploying.
• Oh, and here’s another reason they’re only taking non-app assets right now: the “App Packaging Tool” that binaries will need to be run through prior to submission isn’t yet ready. The nuts and bolts of the tool aren’t yet clear, but Amazon says that it will “ensure that the apps will install properly on customers’ devices and… enable the digital rights management (DRM) policies outlined in the developer agreement.”
• Speaking of DRM, turns out it’s not required. It’s up to the developer whether to enable it.
• Developer-submitted videos will be supported in the app product pages, which is kind of nice — neither the Android Market nor the iOS App Store support that.
• Naturally, it’s at Amazon’s sole discretion what will be allowed and disallowed in the store; “offensive content” won’t be permitted, and the company says that “what [it deems] offensive is probably about what you would expect.” Neither pornography nor “hard-core material” are cool.

So there you have it — Amazon is expecting to ingest actual app binaries “in a few weeks,” so it looks like this will be ready in time for the holidays. App store fragmentation seems like the last thing any mobile platform needs right now, but we’re sure that these guys — with the huge opportunity for showcasing apps on a site network that gets tens of millions of views per day — would just love a slice of that multi-billion dollar pie.

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Amazon sends ‘welcome packet’ to prospective app store devs originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Oct 2010 02:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In the market for a MacBook Air? Well, now may not be the best time. Apple Insider is reporting indirect sales channels (read: non-Apple stores) are running out of the thin-and-light with no indication of a replenishment. Indeed, we just checked Amazon, Best Buy, and a few other online retailers and were consistently greeted by limited- and out-of-stock notices. So, you know what the means — new hardware rumors. Or rather, old ones resurfacing, such as the 11.6-inch display from late September. Compounding the community’s curiosity would be vague tweets from famed company insider John Gruber, who casually mentioned “the imminent” new MacBook Air as a possible reason for the recent Apple Store downtime. Of course, that didn’t turn out to be the case, and for all we know it could just mean some refreshed specs — if even that, really.

AI reminds us that October has been historically the month of refreshed Mac hardware in the lead-up to holiday shopping… but that doesn’t mean it’s the case now. All we really know now is that third-party outlets aren’t currently stocking the Air and it’s unknown if they’re getting anymore shipments of this particular model — which, we know, isn’t nearly as exciting as the imagination. Sorry about that.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

MacBook Air supply dwindling for online retailers, rumor mill raises an eyebrow originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 20:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Judging by the leaked terms and conditions, Amazon plans to swagger into the Android world with an alternative app download store, fists a-whirling. Are they building it to co-exist with Android’s Market…or for an Android-powered SuperKindle? More »

Image by Charlie Sorrel and Tim Carmody

Amazon continues to expand its reading and media software to whole new classes of devices, from new tablets to PC web browsers. It’s just not immediately clear just how far the retail giant is going to go.

We’ll take these news items one at a time, in increasing order of uncertainty:

1. Amazon launches Beta version of Kindle for the Web. Think YouTube for books. You can preview short selections of books in your browser, embed them on web sites with a little bit of JavaScript, and customize the size (it won’t automatically keep the aspect ratio) or even add your Amazon Associate tag to the embed. Click through and it takes you to the book’s entry on the Amazon Kindle store. Level of certainty: This you can actually use right now.

2. Amazon announces Kindle app for forthcoming RIM Playbook tablet. Makes perfect sense given yesterday’s Playbook announcement, natural extension of the Kindle app for Blackberry, iPad, and other platforms. Level of certainty: Actual press release from Amazon after high-profile announcement from RIM. I suppose a bolt of lightning could strike one or both companies tomorrow. But you can’t see it today.
3. Amazon to Launch Android App Store, which my pal Charlie Sorrel already let you know about. Level of certainty: Well-reported rumor. But it makes sense — Amazon sells a lot of stuff, and there are a lot of Android app stores — and it’s confirmed by multiple developer sources. Don’t be surprised if you hear details soon.
4. Amazon to Build Own Branded Android Tablet. Okay, so, a source comes to you with what seem like two wild, fan-fiction stories about Amazon and Android. You ask around, and one of them — an Amazon App Store — turns out to probably be in the works. Is the other story true?

   On the one hand, again — Amazon sells a lot of digital products online, not just e-books: movies, games, music. And it’s not hard to make an Android tablet. In fact, at this point, Amazon has more hardware-production experience with the Kindle than some of the companies that are coming forward with pretty solid products. Add an App Store and it starts to look pretty appealing.

   On the other hand, Amazon’s built up good brand identification with the Kindle, e-books, and E Ink. Will they turn around and say, “oh yeah, multimedia tablets are really awesome, but not, um, more awesome than a Kindle, I mean, um, why not buy both?” Just seems a little surprising. Level of certainty: Pretty cloudy. The source was right about an app store, but as they say, a stopped clock can be right twice a day. If Amazon releases some kind of other media hardware, whether using Android or anything else, it’s equally likely to be a TV box or a smartphone or something else that equally plays to their strength while being a little more differentiated from a dedicated reading machine than a tablet.

See Also:

• Tablet Wars: Amazon Adds Apps to Kindle
• Amazon Shows Off Kindle for iPad
• Scrabble Is First Paid Game App for Kindle
• How to Do (Almost) Everything With a Kindle 3
• Independent App Stores Take On Google's Android Market
• Social Networking Meets Apps in New Android App Store
• Your Froyo Tablet Probably Won't Support Android Market

Amazon is set to open the doors on an Android App Store, adding to the list of places where you may or may not be able to buy software for your device. According to Tech Crunch’s excellent MG Siegler, the store’s structure will be very similar to that of Apple’s App Store.

Developers will have to pay $99 to sign up, just like with Apple, and will get the same 70:30 revenue split. Amazon will decide what gets into the store, pull any apps it doesn’t like, and wrap everything up in its DRM. Further, you can’t sell your apps cheaper elsewhere. If it costs a dollar in the Android Market, it has to cost a dollar over at Amazon.

And it will be dollars. The Amazon app store will be U.S-only at launch, although as Daring Fireball’s John Gruber points out, “Amazon takes payments in more countries than Google Checkout does.” Apps can also be free.

One problem that won’t be solved is customer confusion. Unless Amazon makes its own tablet which has exclusive use of the store, then it will have to pick a range of Android devices to support. Unlike its music store, whose goods (MP3 files) can be played anywhere, an app store could only support a subset of devices.

Amazon will join Verizon and Google as outlets for Android apps, adding to the confusion. Remember the arguments about Android being “open” and iOS being “closed”? They’re starting to look a little silly now.

Yep, Amazon Launching Their Own App Store For Android Too [MG Siegler via ★]

Illustration: Charlie Sorrel

See Also:

• A Call for Transparency in Apple's App Store
• Verizon Promises Simpler, More Lucrative App Store for Developers …
• Independent App Stores Take On Google's Android Market

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