Monday, September 1, 2008

Google and Microsoft apparently quite keen on the App Store idea

judge_google_microsoft.jpgThere is no denying that Apple's App Store is leading the charge when it comes to mobile content delivery, so it's hardly surprising that other major players in the mobile field are looking to offer similar services.

Google is set to launch a new channel for Android called Android Market, that will operate as a direct line delivery service for Android applications and services. The system sounds quite different to the App Store in that developers will merely need to register as a merchant, upload their content, providing a description, and then publish it. Android users will then be able to rate the content in a feedback system similar to YouTube (presumably after they have downloaded and tried out any particular application).

It all sounds very open indeed which should definitely help foster development, let's just hope it's not the sort of development we don't want (i.e. shovelware.)

It seems that it's not only Google getting in on the action either. Over in Redmond a fresh job posting suggests that Microsoft might be looking to develop something similar for Windows Mobile. The job description details a platform called Skymarket that would be a "marketplace service for Windows Mobile,". It doesn't get much clearer than that in our eyes but let's wait for an official press release before we go getting all sure of ourselves.

More on this as soon as we have it folks…

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