Android Market for Developers

Android Market for Developers The Other Side Of Open | TechCrunch
@Andrew Mager
I think Amazon has done a way better job than Google marketing Android.
@Michael C Butler
Technically they're not marketing Android, they're marketing their system of content and apps. Much like what Apple does.
@Carlos Solis
agreed, maybe that's why they're having such a success
@Mahmoud Hossam
MG hating on Google and Android, nothing to see here, folks.
@Brandon C. Hall
Haha, so true about MG, although he makes a valid point in the article.
@Jason Diaz
Brandon C. Hall "Because sometimes the truth isn't good enough." - The Dark Knight
@Hugh Isaacs II
Brandon C. Hall I don't see how the point is valid. Google clearly did this on purpose. If Amazon becomes successful in pushing their version of Android (which isn't much of a change from the OS itself other than looks), this just means more Android developers. Google is better off with opponents supporting Android than opponents supporting WebOS, iOS, Windows Phone, etc...
@Brandon C. Hall
Hugh Isaacs II Well said. You're exactly right
@Philip Frick
I think MG is just pissed that Gruber is way out fanboying him. As to the article, the missing cog that makes the whole thing fit together is MS. Android is not a product that Google wants to do, it is product they have to do. Apples' business model is to sell high margin devices. It is a very good business model. What it isn't is a 50% market share model. If not for android the majority of handsets would be running some for of windows now. Google can't permit that, they have not choice but to throw whatever resources they have at it. Before android Apple and Google worked very well together, hell Schmidt was on Apples' board. Apple and Google can both coexist, and in fact compliment each other very well. Google had no desire to compete with Apple but Apple was willing to cede the low end market to MS.
@Shannon Clarke
I like MG's writing. His own blog is proof that he has skill and boy does he know to argue a point. But I don't understand why he wanted to write this post. I mean, GigaOM reported this change on the KindleFire more than 12 hours before the first version of this post was created which promptly had to be updated with the change. What was the point of writing this then? To beat an old horse? We all know that Amazon is going to provide a curated app store to Kindle Fire owners, so what if they block Android market? It's like making news of the fact that some html5 apps are becoming more attractive to businesses than iOS apps especially the businesses without the resources/knowledge to make an iOS app work for them. In the end, once Android is being used in some form or fashion and especially in successful devices (and devices outside of mobile devices like cars, fridges, etc which is possible) then Google wins. It's not the same model as Apple's own but it never was.
@Daniel Jones
I have a Kindle Fire and I like it, however I really don't like the limitation of not being able to use the Android Market. I understand why Amazon did it, but I think anytime you limit a products ability for business reasons you are doing a disservice to your user base. I find myself using my Asus Transformer much more thank the Kindle, mainly because it has all the apps I want. For reading boo, s, I think the Kindle is great.
@Bruce A. Sarte
Dan -- It is a Kindle that happens to be a tablet, not a tablet that runs a Kindle app. This is what Amazon intended. Nothing more than that. Amazon delivers exactly what they promise. They didn't promise a fully functioning Android tablet at all. Think of the Kindle Fire as a media entertainment device...
@Aakar Anil
Hey! MG Com'on! Why are you hating Google so much? :O Google must have some moves in their mind.
@Josh K Willuhn
We all drive cars (or don't), they all do things different, some people don't care if its a Boxer 4 engine or an inline 4, independent suspension or axle, they just know its 4 something and smooth not a fast v8. some people swear by the v8 one brand one type, some just want fast who cares about a badge? its all just competition. it started off just a few different things get a new ford back in the day "in any color so long as its black" now its so many options and things nobody thought of back then. innovation and competition is the key to advancing any industry. google should be happy. we are just at the start of things I would hope.
@Thomas McGuire
Thought MG was only going to write about Apple? I remember it like it was 2.5 months ago... http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/03/mg-siegler-will-become-our-apple-columnist-and-join-crunchfund-as-a-vc/ "The scope of what he will write about will be very narrow: Apple... Apple is a big enough company and a big enough story to keep him busy as a columnist." Apparently not.
@Heng Loon Wan
well the 2nd law of apple fanboyism states that writing about apple = bashing non apple stuff. the first is of course apple's strategy is always the best today and not so good yesterday!
@
Siegler and friends have gone down this path quite a few times -- some bizarre belief that Google has been caught off guard by Amazon et al. Hardly, dear friend. Such a scenario has been obvious and inevitable since the early days of Android. Here's the thing -- the Android alliance is a tenuous one. Samsung has no interest in being Google's bitch. Neither does HTC. Neither does LG, or Sony, or Huwei or any other maker. They were all drawn into the Android alliance based upon the premise that if Google got too arrogant, they could part ways without having to completely undermine the platform they relied upon. Samsung has been idling their own market for years, as have some of the other makers. So long as they all work to each other's goals, they stay together, but good organizations plan for the future. Further the notion that the Fire undermines Android is laughable. It is adding *millions* of Android 2.3.x clients for developers to target. Millions. There are no special tricks or different tools to target the Amazon Market for Android developers -- it is simply submitting to a different location. The benefit to Android is incredible, and is already evidences by the activity on the market and the hordes of incoming developers. Or maybe Google just really didn't think this all through, and Sielger is the one setting them straight...
@Hugh Isaacs II
You need to be voted to the top here. Nobody seems to realize that spin-offs like this were apart of Googles goal. Supporting Android is like supporting HTML5 to them, it's a platform that anyone can support and Google can profit off of. The openness part is to attract developers which is the same reason why they chose to use Java instead of another programming language. Android being open means I can code an Android app and know that if Google falls apart, there'll be a hoard of other companies that I could send my app to without having to rewrite it.
@Jim Renaud
That's not entirely true. The code does have to be at least modified for all the flavors of Android. And then if you want an exceptional app, it needs to be modified for tablet dimensions, screen resolutions, hard keys, soft keys. It can be a major pain.
@Hugh Isaacs II
Jim Renaud code your app to be responsive. How do you think developers that make applications for Windows XP, Vista and 7 work?
@Casey Rosengren
Signed in using Hotmail.... how is this guy commenting from 1998?
@Checks Balances
Casey Rosengren That his is one of the top-rated comments must speak about his experience. That you think he is from 1998 is just a testimony to this experience.
@Casey Rosengren
Checks Balances Sarcasm, my friend. Sarcasm.
@Moiz Ali
I have to imagine that hardware manufacturers will not sign search deals with Bing (i) for fear of pissing Google off and thus, having Google charge for Android and (ii) because users will think the manufacturers are sell outs for putting a crappy default search engine (see Dell, HP, Gateway, etc). More than that, I imagine smartphone and tablet owners are more tech savvy than the general population and would change to Google search, making the default search less lucrative than on desktops... Still agree that Google has something to fear with hardware manufacturers trying to own the phone/tablet; there are just some mitigating factors out there, I think.
@Jason Diaz
MG is also highlighting Google's track record. The facts are self evident.
@Bruce A. Sarte
Google makes money every time an Android device ships. Open Source does not mean free. Amazon still has to license the OS. I know, I know, that's not Google's business model but hey, it's the breaks sometimes.
@Hugh Isaacs II
Untrue. Those Android licenses are for Google integration and the Android Market. The OS itself is free to be used in devices without such.
@Kervin Pierre
MG are you even trying anymore?
@Arhen Richmond P. Nuguid
If Google created and developed Android, then Amazon has to pay Google for what they have done! Android is open-source, but you should also consider that you should also give credit to the developer of the OS that you are modifying. Samsung and HTC created their own with their TouchWiz and HTC's Sense, but they included the Google Mobile Suite.
@Hugh Isaacs II
Uh no. Android is open as in open source, Amazon is free to do what they want with the code. The only thing they have to do is state somewhere that it's Android and who it was made by (and also provide some source code at some point). Google shouldn't force anyone to pre-install their content. Imagine if Linus Torvalds (maker of Linux) forced everyone to install an app that made him money on every Linux build. That means every WebOS device, Android phone, Chumby, Google TV, Chromebook, Kindle, Nook, almost every Nokia smartphone, and TiVo box would come with his app. That's not the type of company Google is trying to position themselves as. They profit from being open in every sense of the word (good or bad).
@Abhijeet Kumar
There are two obvious flaws in this article. 1) The android marketplace redirecting thing on Fire has been fixed by the latest update, 2) Amazon has not closed down Android technically, they released as open-source the modified code (excluding proprietary in-built apps).
@Abhijeet Kumar
Google would atleast publicly (check Andy Rubin's reaction) have no problems with the use of android, the way it is in Fire. It only explains Google's word of openness on android is not just a marketing gimmick.
@Heng Loon Wan
Abhijeet Kumar nooo mg is the genius. he knows everything. including how to run google. and the whole world, as a matter of fact.
@Miad Hoque
Google needs to drop the open and start licensing to manufacturers and make a minimum specifications requirement.
@Mark Sigal
What's interesting to me is that for all of the platitudes Google has uttered about "open this," "open that," they have said zero about what Amazon is doing (to the best of my knowledge). Am I wrong on this? Either this is the genius of open, and they should verbally acknowledge it as kosher, and gain the badge of honor for fully walking the talk. Or, they should raise their hand, and say that it's not cool, and embrace their 'open-ish'-ness. To sit silent, as they are, is to let others define the narrative, IMHO.
@Barry Lance Leo
nothing new here! One of the worst articles of MG.
@Joshua Rogner
Even if that happens it will probably benefit Google.
@Michael C Butler
Amazon is doing what it wants with the Android system on the Kindle Fire thanks to the "Apache License". Google knew years ago what it was getting into with open source and the Apache License. It says that you can make derivatives of it and close the source. That is what Amazon is doing here and you know what? They're going to fail if they do stuff like this. This is just Amazon being stupid, thanks to this behavior I won't buy a Kindle Fire and I hope more consumers will look to tablets with open systems such as those made by Samsung (if they haven't been banned yet).
@Abhijeet Kumar
Technically speaking Amazon hasn't closed the source code. They released as open-source, the bare-bones android (fire) source after modification without the proprietary Amazon apps. This is just like how Google distribute android without the proprietary Google apps.
@Michael C Butler
Abhijeet Kumar OK so the outlook is not as bad as I thought. The bad part is not letting users use the Android market *even if they want to*. This is an Apple-ism, and is bad for users.
@Abhijeet Kumar
From what I have read, this is again a licensing issue. Amazon is not working with Google as a part of the open handset alliance, that explains the lack of Android marketplace and the Google apps, which I think they would have had to license, as these are not available with the free distribution of android.
@Michael C Butler
Abhijeet Kumar Interesting...but isn't the Android Market just an app itself? I don't think I or anyone else has a problem with not including apps with an OS due to legal problems, but why couldn't a user install the Android Market APK -- without root access -- and then go from there?
@Hugh Isaacs II
You'd think that MG would've got it by now that Google made Android open to competition from other companies on purpose. Next we'll hear that Apple is in danger because WebKit is used in their competitors browsers.
@Felix Mak
there're different degress of openness, open doesn't have to mean open source, even though windows isn't open source, it's still way more open than apple's shit.
@Felix Mak
android is built on linux, so it couldn't have costed google to make android as much as it did microsoft to make windows.
@Somy Andriyanto
it's a beautiful risk of open sourced software, every body could to modify or even rewrite it totally. I think Google know what they do. Innovation will win at last.
@Michael Cabral Poubel Bastos
Seriously why does Tech Crunch allow to an iOS fanboy to write an article about Android? It's like asking a Democrat about Republican policy or asking an Obese person to write about why diets don't work. MG should leave the Android commentaries to those who use the platform and know what the hell their talking about...
@Michael C Butler
Because it creates controversy and page hits
@Chris Wyatt
I thought I read somewhere that MG was going to be the Apple columnist? It's amazing how often I start reading a column and can realize who wrote it a couple sentences in on TC....If it's snarky, it's MG; if it's random, craziness it's definitely Steve Gilmore.
@Wilhem Pujar
The old "fork you" opensource debate. Well, I don't think the ability to fork Android represents such a risk for Google. The PC-like hardware distribution model and the long-tail pricing strategy have proven quite useful until now. I believe they will continue to do so. No... The issue here is clearly about apps mediocrity. And that's probably what Eric Schmidt meant at LeWeb : "Talented developers, come leverage our dominant position and build actually beautiful apps with maximum reach". Your bet?
@Jared R. Byer
Google does not make android as tool to push its app store. It uses its app store as a tool to push android. Amazon is creating their own system and reasons to use android on their devices. I think google is happy. More people using the internet means google gets what it wants. The only thing google probably misses in amazon's device is mobile advertising revenue.
@Nick Fleker Felker
Don't forget about developers and the benefit from that. If everyone uses the same essential code base, then an app runs on the Kindle Fire, the normal Android marketplace, and any other Android flavor. Developers could easily create apps and add them to Google's marketplace for regular Android users to buy.
@Luis Fernando Franco
I don't know who is more annoying the original MG Siegler or his clone… what was her name? Crook-something?
@Sudhakar Vemuri
In my Opinion, Google has long seen this coming and hence the Motorola Buy off, so that they can still stay in the game.
@Hua Zhong
I am not sure Google is too upset about it. Yes it's open and it's expected. This is how it works.
@Anurag Kalia
Haha! Though I have nothing against the author. But here is an alternate industry in comment sections where people ignore content and write about the author. "Typical MG", "You are not even trying" etc. My heart goes out to the author who writes an article hoping for some breakthrough, but can he do if his name is synonymous with shame! MG seems to be a dirty word now. It is funny but very cruel. Now I suddenly know why there are no "dislike" buttons on facebook. :D
@Hugh Isaacs II
Breakthrough? Google made an OS open for even competitors to take it and create versions of it to cater to themselves on purpose, and MG complains about it as if Google wasn't aware that they did this. And you think he's trying?
@Manrique Fernandez
Seriously he is proposing a scenario where companies are going to close search to one provider... And choosing Bing as there only provider over Google for money... Doesn't sound like a smart move. And Google will collapse and burn to ashes... MG really dislikes google. Not even Windows based systems use Bing as there only search provider. It is the case with facebook but facebook search sucks indeed. More than a threat to Google I see a threat to amazon or other hardware makers to keep their costumers happy while they try to impose their app store to consumers. As a user I want freedom to download available content. Amazon's app store is weak, it feels like you can only shop in the small shopping center and you have a huge mall next to it, you know it's there but you're not allowed to shop in it. One thing is true Google will have to work harder to keep their app store as the most desirable and keep improving and adding more Google apps.
@Ashutosh Mishra
And I thought MG was TC's "part time Apple columnist".
@Ashutosh Mishra
Dear Closed MG, #1. Google Wallet is on the Galaxy Nexus. But since Google has zero leverage on crappy Verizon, they can't include it in the US version (just so you know, there is a world outside the US where the carrier situation is much better and the Galaxy Nexuses are overflowing with Wallet goodness). Add to the fact that Wallet has presently little to no usage, and I don't see why you have to be whining. And if you really want Wallet on the Verizon Nexus, you have to run a simple APK file without rooting or jailbreaking the pone. Open. #2. The Fire will fuel the growth of apps for vanilla Android as well. When someone makes a Kindle Fire app, they're basically making an app that can run on over 200 million Android phones (and growing at 0.7 million a day) with the slightest modification. The developers would have to be really stupid to stay put in the Amazon Appstore and not eventually jump over to the Android Market. Btw, if you're in the US (again, there's a world outside the US and both Google and Apple are thriving in it; Amazon, not so much yet), you can already load the Appstore on your Android device and use those Kindle Fire specific apps. Open.
@Sojo Varughese
"Never mind the fact that a good percentage of the time it’s pure marketing bullshit" - "Amazon’s Kindle Fire runs on Android, but nothing about it is Google’s Android" - Is it Google's fault that the writer does not know what it means when poeple call a platform open?
@Will Paccione
Ha, I just wrote the same comment. MG is a contradiction machine.
@Sojo Varughese
True :)
@Ashish Hablani
I think I should read the comments section before reading the article. At least they are entertaining and informative unlike the article!
@Dave Allen
The fact is that open source changes the way we, and the companies, are used to deal with the products. Yes, Microsoft has dominated the market with Windows. But now a lot have change since and now sharing and collaboration seem to be a more modern and smart way to work in the technology market. Dave Allen Miracle Technologies
@Sankar McMoonlander
The kindle fire now let's you browse the Google app market but not download. I think Amazon has done this just to regulate their apps for support purposes, not to cut Google's business. As a developer, you can still put your apps on the Amazon Market, under their contract. I don't think Google are too fussed about this whole ordeal. From Google's perspective, it could be a strategy to increase its market share over iOS.
@Will Paccione
The better Android does, the more negative spin MG does. It's his defensive mechanism when he feels iOS is up against the wall. It's no coincidence that this just came out after Rubin's tweet of 700,000 Android devices being activated/day. "Amazon’s Kindle Fire runs on Android, but nothing about it is Google’s Android. It doesn’t look like Android and it doesn’t feature Google’s own apps." ---umm, yeah that's what Open means. "But what happens if the rumors are true and Facebook releases a phone with an OS built on top of Android?" ---Yeah... open. Google won't sue, unlike your beloved Apple who is now suing on patents on phone cases. "And what if they do the exact same things that Amazon is doing? Say they create their own app store, bake in their own payment and content services, and eventually cut a deal with Microsoft to make Bing the default search engine." ---Yeah, once again, your proving that open isn't BS... much like this article.