While this is not exactly “new” news, it is great news for the mobile marketplace. Retail gigantor Amazon is throwing its hat in the ring by announcing its Android marketplace. This will clearly be huge for the marketplace.
Apple is doing a great job of creating a marketplace there is no doubt of that fact. However, a move like this could give them a run for their money. While this is bad for competitors, it is fantastic for consumers. While details on the storefront remain scant, it is likely to follow similar models of revenue share for developers. Good for us. But these apps will likely appear in Amazon’s regular store as well. This would mean a far greater visibility and, by extension, a likely much larger likelihood of purchase.
The last remaining piece of this mystery would almost certainly be an Amazon Kindle re-vamped to include an app store and abilities to display apps. If not a Kindle, certainly a Kindle v2.0 device. With the iPad stealing a great deal of book reader traffic (and other tablets poised to do the same) Amazon almost has to answer with a new product. This would perfectly pave the way for that.
