Three Hot G1 Android Apps Already Out
In June 2007, the world was eagerly awaiting a product that would turn mobile computing on its proverbial ear, the Apple iPhone. Comparisons between the days leading up to that launch and this week are inevitable, as we once again find ourselves anxiously awaiting a groundbreaking mobile product, the first Android-powered mobile phone, the T-Mobile G1 launching on Wednesday, October 22.
The makers of the "Google phone" - and the developers who hope to build apps for it - have had the opportunity to watch Apple over the past year, learning from their mistakes - and their successes. One of those lessons learned? People want apps. Let's take a look at three of the first Android apps out of the gates.
The alpha release of BooRah Restaurant Search promises to deliver the power of the BooRah restaurant review service - which has been reviewed favorably by ReadWriteWeb - to the Android platform, giving G1 users access to search user reviews, types of fare, restaurant locations, and maps.
One of the leading streaming music services and a frequent subject of ours, imeem, plans to "make Android sing" with its streaming social music app that delivers the power of imeem's user recommendations to the mobile platform. According to imeem, the app will have seamless integration between the mobile app and the imeem site.
Not to be outdone on the social front, MySpace has announced the MySpace Mobile App for Android which promises to bring a number of the site's features to the mobile platform, including providing status updates, uploading photos, and approving friends.
App store drama rears its head
Getting apps to users right of the gates was clearly motivated by the hindsight of Apple's reticence to do so. The Android team definitely made the right decision in that regard.
One of the mistakes that the G1 appears doomed to repeat, however, is the management of those applications in the Android Market, the distribution hub for Android applications.
Android Community reveals that the more than 50 apps which could appear in the Market have been whittled down to 13 lucky applications. According to Android Community, "many of the top applications that have been reviewed already will not be there."
Will this initial selection result in the same turmoil it has for Apple? Or was this simply a means of staging the rollout of apps? The answer to that question remains to be seen.
Surely more to come
While we're getting down to the wire, there's still a lot of time before the G1 comes out on Wednesday. No doubt, this is just the beginning of the information we'll be seeing on new Android apps. Stay tuned to ReadWriteWeb for the latest news as it becomes available.
MySpace Mobile image courtesy Android Community
Comments
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It's full gold-rush, cowboy scenes on mobile apps these days. App stores are already overflowing. I wonder how this is going to met out in the major big markets - Europe (big but fragmented), Asia (massive but walled) and USA (big but behind).
The spending is very encouraging, but I'm thinking that is going to die down soon. Wallets are shrinking and the glow of iphone apps is already fading for me.
Posted by: Mick Liubinskas
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October 20, 2008 11:02 PM
I can't help but find it extremely funny how eagerly we have started spreading this information again with the most probably theory for now being a very simple scheduled maintenance of the Android Market. It looks like we just expect Google to behave exactly like Apple does - thus we are all too scared and just think this could be true immediately.
Posted by: Svetlana Gladkova
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October 21, 2008 1:06 AM
Soon iPhone will start feeling the heat. Google is pushing it really hard.
Posted by: Rajeev Edmonds | October 21, 2008 2:18 AM
The biggest market is Asia: 37%
Thus developers and marketeers need to think and have the mindset of Asia.
http://compoundsemiconductor.net/blog/2008/08/gartner_says_q2_2008_worldwide.html
What do these consumers want?
Posted by: Engago Team | October 21, 2008 4:42 AM
Yeah, feel the heat, 13 apps out of fifty. How many did Apple launch with? 500?
Posted by: KenC | October 21, 2008 1:23 PM
Adding a Twitter client: http://twitroid.com
Posted by: T | October 21, 2008 11:36 PM
I'm *so frustrated* @ google's lack of transparency when it comes to submitting apps into the app market. I mean, come on! you want developers to make your platform popular and you don't bother explaining the process? terrible. terrible. terrible.
Posted by: Android Developer | October 22, 2008 8:34 AM
Apple fan boys...gotta love em. They like comparing Apples to Oranges. Google's app store launched before their phone actually did. Apple's app store launched a year after their phone. They're moving at different paces -- Google's has been more accelerated than Apple's, and most likely, within 12-18 months, there will be more Android phones on the market than iPhones. Of course, Apple fans will be happy with their little niche, just as they are with the PC market. No shame in that.
Posted by: Eric | October 22, 2008 9:54 AM