“Early adopters of T-Mobile’s G1 might be in for a surprise today when they open up their phones. The Android app market has been decimated with only about 13 applications available out of an expected 50 or 60,” Ian Paul reports for PC World.
“It turns out the drop in Apps was due to a software change on Google’s end, and that once developers have a chance to upgrade their programs we should see them available for download again,” Paul reports.
“How long this will take or why Google suddenly changed its software is unclear, but I suppose that’s the way it goes in the chaotic world of open source computing,” Paul reports.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Kirk G.” for the heads up.]
Apple CEO Steve Jobs yesterday announced that the App Store for iPhone and iPod touch would mark its 200 millionth app download today and that there is currently a rapidly-growing library of over 5,500 apps available in 62 countries around the world.
In an interview early this year, Apple CEO Steve Jobs was said to be “skeptical about Google’s decision to develop smartphone software… ‘Having created a phone its a lot harder than it looks,’ he said. ‘We’ll see how good their software is and we’ll see how consumers like it and how quickly it is adopted.’ In seeking not to get locked out of the mobile phone world, ‘I actually think Google has achieved their goal without Android, and I now think Android hurts them more than it helps them. It’s just going to divide them and people who want to be their partners.'” – The New York Times, January 15, 2008
at least 13 is my lucky number
Decimated, because it only has 13 apps available instead of a whopping 50 or 60? Now that’s really funny…
wow, so many choices!! lol
Whats a G1? I thought Apple is finished with the G1-2-3-4-5’s and moved on?
i have my iphone up on ebay and am anxious to get the G1
At this rate they’ll be up to 5,500 apps by 20…no…21…err…maybe 2256?
This is kind of stunning. After all the hype about disgruntled developers leaving the iPhone in droves, herds, masses, flocks and gaggles, I thot there would be at least a couple hundred apps for the G-Phone.
Looks like that one app which tells you how far you can throw the G-Phone might come in handy for developers planning on making money.
Oh, I forgot, you can’t actually make money on G-Phone apps yet!
@Skeeter
“i have my iphone up on ebay and am anxious to get the G1.”
You realize, of course, that “anxious” means “afraid” or “fearful,” don’t you? (Having an anxiety attack just isn’t a good thing.) Did you actually mean “eager” instead of “anxious”? And if so . . . WHY?
Great sarcasm!
Either that or you’re an idiot.
I vote for sarcasm myself.
Ironically, if Android is wildly successful, then the danger of “bad” applications will be increased. Right now it’s just developers and testers, there are almost no actual consumers with the phone in their hands. So the “self-policing” part probably works great, but if there were as many apps as in the iphone store it won’t work at all.
Also, given the absolute mountainous pile of crapola, scams, adware etc. that already exists in the “controlled” iPhone store, I shudder to think what Android Market will eventually look like if it takes off at all.
WOOWWW! 13 apps written by 100 developers, that is huge…
Linux is a open source OS and it has not displaced Mac OS or Windows. I really don’t think that copying apple will give the the success… I mean, Linux is great, but does not have the Apple support (any support) or the easy to use as the Mac or the many years on the market as Microsoft (even that microsoft windows is crappy OS)
But I bet they have at least 2 tip calculators.
13 apps… what’s that, one app for each Android phone sold?
On a more serious note, the overall consensus is that Android is a promising platform, but it’s a bit immature yet. It’s at least 2 years behind the iPhone and that’s probably being a bit generous.
Right now, there is no reason for developers to jump on board as there is no money to be made. When the iPhone app store opened up, there were already millions of iPhones sold with customers waiting to buy software. If the Android platform ever does become popular, I’d expect developers to flock to that platform just as fast.
For the time being, the iPhone sure seems to have a lot of momentum. I don’t see a clear end in sight there either. Time will tell…
Mr Paul needs to look up the term “decimated”. While it is commonly used to mean “slaughtered”, “destroyed”, “eliminated” and the like, it actually means that one in ten was killed. So, if there are thirteen left after the group was “decimated”, that would mean the group started with fourteen, perhaps fifteen. Of course, it is possible what he meant was that five or six of the original group will have been lost – once those not showing initially are re-coded. I suspect, though, he was just being needlessly sloppy.
When the Romans decimated a population, pretty much everyone in that population lost a loved one. A terrible punishment for a community believed to be harboring “terrorists” or “rebels”, but not designed to make them non-productive.
Dang, you guys sound a lot like Microsoft folks when the iPhone came out. Don’t worry about it. It won’t be very long before 13 becomes 1,300 applications. Give it a little time.
I wonder if they’ll have an “I Am Poor” app for free with a cubic zirconia icon and a hidden message that reads, “If you weren’t such a cheap, clueless dumbass, you would have bought an iPhone instead.”
“[…] there is currently a rapidly-growing library of over 5,500 apps […]”
Of which, 4,500 consist of tip calculators and flashlights.
Lesson Learned: Purchase your applications from your computer.
If your iPhone hasn’t been working properly since your last SW update and you didn’t realize that the applications WEREN’T being transferred to your computer AND you decided to reinitialize your iPhone, then Time Machine is NOT going to find what apparently was never there.
Could be a LOT worse – that Lesson Learned cost me 10 dollars. At the very least, the iPhone is working properly again.
Peace.
I think that Android will be moderately successful and that Google is probably pretty smart for creating it. Linux does have a lot to offer, and Android will be good for Linux. Competition in the OS space is a GOOD thing. I’m actually surprised that Google hasn’t created their own Linux Desktop distro, yet. Though, I could easily see them heading that way with Android. All Linux really needs in this environment is for one or two big players to really dive in back it with real money and support. Linux could easily compete in a lot of markets, especially education and government. Let’s face it, it can’t be worse than Windows, especially CE and Vista! I’m amazed that Linux and OpenOffice hasn’t eaten away more of Windows & Office’s share already. For most users it’s more than enough.
> Of which, 4,500 consist of tip calculators and flashlights.
Even if that was true, at least there’s enough interest in the platform to create multiple apps that do the same thing.
There were 100 times the number iPhone apps (compared to Android apps), even before installing third-party apps became officially sanctioned by Apple.
Apple Dictionary (New Oxford American Dictionary)
Right click a word > Look Up in Dictionary.
@Randian
Today the word “anxious” typically encompasses both worry and anticipation.
@DLMeyer
“Decimate” Note from Apple Dictionary:
USAGE – Historically, the meaning of the word decimate is ‘kill one in every ten of (a group of people).’ This sense has been superseded by the later, more general sense ‘kill or destroy a large percentage or part of,’ as in: the virus has decimated the population. Some traditionalists argue that this and other later senses are incorrect, but it is clear that these extended senses are now part of standard English. It is sometimes also argued that decimate should refer to people and not to things or animals such as weeds or insects. It is generally agreed that decimate should not be used to mean ‘defeat utterly.’
–
Languages live, die, move from place to place, and change with time. Any language that ceases to change or develop is categorized as a dead language. Conversely, any language that is in a continuous state of change is known as a living language or modern language.
I’d be surprised if they hit 100 apps before the end of 2008.
Nearly all the apps in the store are Google Maps-based – not a real variety there at all.
To elaborate on ken1w’s post, for iPhone, there were over 1,000 applications when, in order to install them, you had to jailbrake your phone. In other words, these applications were developed without SDK, by sort of reverse-engineering existing stuff and digging through the OS.
Developers had extremely strong motivation to deliver apps for the iPhone, even if it meant not being able to properly charge for them, and requiring significant geek expertise in order to install them.
Meanwhile, we have G1, where SDK is there, the device has been on its way for some time and has been receiving its fair share of publicity. And the total number of apps is in the low teens. This clearly says something.
Looking at Windows Mobile, Android, and the iPhone, there are three characteristics of these “ecosystems”:
– Openness
– Quality
– Lots of apps
You get to pick 2.