“Two months after the first Android phone was released, there are more than 400 free programs from which to choose and the promise of more handsets coming that use the open-source operating system,” Suzanne Choney reports for MSNBC.
“The number of apps is anemic compared to Apple’s App Store for the iPhone, which launched in July. It has more than 10,000 programs now, from finance to games, some paid, some free,” Choney reports.
“Among Android’s inventive offerings not yet available for the iPhone are Ringdroid, which lets you make your own cell phone ringtones within seconds; ShopSavvy, which turns the phone into a product barcode scanner and delivers up comparative prices online; and Ecorio, which can measure your carbon footprint on a daily basis and help you reduce it,” Choney reports.
“The iPhone was already a phenomenal success a year before the launch of the App Store, which lets users download programs from the phone directly to the phone,” Choney reports.
“The Android Market, which works much the same, is still finding its way. Programs, so far, are free — but free, of course, means no revenue for those who create programs. Many of those with apps in the Market are developers with a passion for the open-source software or those betting on Android’s future,” Choney reports.
“Neither T-Mobile nor Google, the main force behind Android, has said yet when fees will start being charged by the Android Market, the equivalent of Apple’s App Store,” Choney reports. “Once they are, developers will get 70 percent of revenues, the same percentage developers get from App Store revenues. Apple gets 30 percent, and in the case of Android Market, the wireless carrier will get 30 percent.”
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