Amazon Appstore
Encyclopedia
The Amazon Appstore is a mobile application
store for the Google Android operating system and was opened on March 22, 2011. It was launched with around 3,800 applications both free or paid. Developers are paid either 70% of the sale price or 20% of the developer's list price, whichever one is greater.
On September 28, 2011, Amazon unveiled a new low-cost tablet, the Kindle Fire
. This tablet, which is designed for media consumption in the Amazon ecosystem, relies solely on the Amazon Appstore for its marketplace, eschewing Google's Market. Alongside the tablet was a new design for the Amazon Appstore designed to better integrate with the tablet's user interface.
The Amazon Appstore includes a "free app a day" feature. Every day, an application, frequently a game, is offered for free. On the launch day, this game was Angry Birds Rio
, in itself a promotional game. The Free App of the Day feature makes an exception to Amazon's 20% of list price term, giving the developer 0% of the list price during the feature day.
The store's "Test Drive" feature allows users to try an application in their web browser by launching a virtual copy of Android in the Amazon EC2 cloud
for half an hour.
The Amazon Appstore is currently only available in the US and no official announcements have been made about increasing availability to other regions.
published an open letter expressing concerns that were primarily aimed at Amazon's distribution terms. The main gripes about the conditions were that Appstore terms force developers to permanently lower their AppStore prices if ever they do promotions on other stores, and that Amazon could choose to lower the price of an application while deciding to reduce the developers share without having to ask permission.
Following this address, Amazon clarified the Appstore developer agreement, but this failed to address IGDA concerns, which declared that "Amazon’s terms represent a threat to game developers".
In July 2011, the Swedish developer Bithack pulled its Apparatus application from the Appstore and published an open letter explaining that the store was "a disaster" for indie developers. The main gripes related to the very slow review process, the absence of any means to filter unsupported devices, and that Amazon changed the price of the application without consulting the developer, leading to the IGDA reiterating its warnings concerning Amazon policy once again.
Apple
filed a legal claim against Amazon for using a similar name to the Apple App Store. Subsequently, Apple lost the case and judge ruled that Amazon can continue to use the name Appstore.
Mobile apps
Mobile apps, also called mobile applications, are software applications, usually designed to run on smartphones and tablet computers. They are available through application distribution platforms which are typically operated by the owner of the mobile operating system, such as the App Store,...
store for the Google Android operating system and was opened on March 22, 2011. It was launched with around 3,800 applications both free or paid. Developers are paid either 70% of the sale price or 20% of the developer's list price, whichever one is greater.
On September 28, 2011, Amazon unveiled a new low-cost tablet, the Kindle Fire
Kindle Fire
The Kindle Fire is a tablet computer version of Amazon.com's Kindle e-book reader. Announced on 28 September 2011, the Kindle Fire has a color 7" multi-touch display with IPS technology and runs a forked version of Google's Android operating system. It includes access to the Amazon Appstore,...
. This tablet, which is designed for media consumption in the Amazon ecosystem, relies solely on the Amazon Appstore for its marketplace, eschewing Google's Market. Alongside the tablet was a new design for the Amazon Appstore designed to better integrate with the tablet's user interface.
The Amazon Appstore includes a "free app a day" feature. Every day, an application, frequently a game, is offered for free. On the launch day, this game was Angry Birds Rio
Angry Birds Rio
Angry Birds Rio is a puzzle video game developed by Rovio Mobile. Based on the wildly successful Angry Birds, Angry Birds Rio was released for devices using Apple's iOS, Google's Android and Mac OS X in March 2011. The game was released as a marketing tie-in with the 20th Century Fox animated film...
, in itself a promotional game. The Free App of the Day feature makes an exception to Amazon's 20% of list price term, giving the developer 0% of the list price during the feature day.
The store's "Test Drive" feature allows users to try an application in their web browser by launching a virtual copy of Android in the Amazon EC2 cloud
Cloud computing
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility over a network ....
for half an hour.
The Amazon Appstore is currently only available in the US and no official announcements have been made about increasing availability to other regions.
Reception
Shortly after the Amazon Appstore launch, the International Game Developers AssociationInternational Game Developers Association
International Game Developers Association is the professional society for over 10,000 video and computer game developers worldwide.It is incorporated in the United States as a non-profit organization....
published an open letter expressing concerns that were primarily aimed at Amazon's distribution terms. The main gripes about the conditions were that Appstore terms force developers to permanently lower their AppStore prices if ever they do promotions on other stores, and that Amazon could choose to lower the price of an application while deciding to reduce the developers share without having to ask permission.
Following this address, Amazon clarified the Appstore developer agreement, but this failed to address IGDA concerns, which declared that "Amazon’s terms represent a threat to game developers".
In July 2011, the Swedish developer Bithack pulled its Apparatus application from the Appstore and published an open letter explaining that the store was "a disaster" for indie developers. The main gripes related to the very slow review process, the absence of any means to filter unsupported devices, and that Amazon changed the price of the application without consulting the developer, leading to the IGDA reiterating its warnings concerning Amazon policy once again.
Apple
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
filed a legal claim against Amazon for using a similar name to the Apple App Store. Subsequently, Apple lost the case and judge ruled that Amazon can continue to use the name Appstore.