Remember that thousand-dollar application that was for sale on the iPhone? Remember how it was shut down? Worry no more about meaningless applications being banned from mobile application directories with the soon to be released Android Market. This market place marks the emergence of the portable platforms, first released by Apple with the launch of their iPhone.
The first version of the Android Market may not have applications for sale but they soon will once a later version is released. How will applications be paid for? Not quite sure about that one yet but we can bet that Google is pushing hard for Google Checkout to serve as the backbone. I can hear geeks rejoicing as this platform is the first competitor to the iPhone directory positioning Google at the forefront of the mobile platform competition.
So where is Microsoft and Blackberry in this whole equation? Both companies have a massive reach but they appear to be falling behind when it comes to the latest technology. Almost overnight the mobile industry has been transformed from a battle of devices to a battle for the software running on this new wave of mobile platforms.
The Android Market appears to be the most open version of the market with no limits on the applications that can be displayed. This strategy mimics Facebook’s strategy when they first launched their platform last year which also resulted in a one of the largest shifts in developer attention ever. While I’m not sure how attractive the “open marketplace” is to most developers, there have been a ton of complaints about Apple’s restrictions in their directory.
Whether or not we’ll see a massive developer shift is still unknown but over the coming months Google and Apple are about to lead the battle of the mobile platforms of the future.
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I'm excited by the level of innovation that will be coming into the mobile market, but have a healthy fear of the inevitable transition period from traditional mobile content producers and the new school.
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