Android Market Webstore Finally Rolls Out
Google’s Android Market, home to over 100,000 apps, games and widgets, is now accessible from web browsers with the launch of the Android Market Webstore. Finally! It was officially unveiled today during an event at Google headquarters, along with the showcase of Honeycomb (Android 3.0). Discovering new apps now features a bigger and brighter interface.
With the new Android Market Webstore, users can send applications to their Android devices without hooking up wires, as well as share them to friends via Twitter. They can also post app reviews to the Android Market. As to the applications that have already been downloaded, just sign in to the website using a Google account and click “My Market Account” to see and manage all of the downloaded applications.
The new Android Market Webstore also added an in-app payment support, which is another big development for the Android platform. This will likely be a necessity for mobile app marketplaces, as Blackberry added similar functionality, though third party portals are taking full advantage of such features, like Super Rewards latest release. In addition, in-app payment provider Fortumo features an offline transaction feature that allows users to send payment via SMS in the absence of internet connection, and Android developers can incorporate this feature for free.
This exciting web store launch should have been made ages ago, for sure. From a marketplace/distribution stand-point, their chrome web store seemed like a start in the right direction, but their Android Market has been sorely neglected. They still have some catching up to do, as Apple launched its Mac App Store a couple weeks ago.
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