Later this year, Amazon will try to throw a monkey wrench into Google’s plans to be the sole on-device app distributor of importance on the Android platform. As of today, Amazon’s on-device portal is open to developer registrations and developer submissions and later this year, it will begin selling apps. It’s pretty easy to why Amazon would be interested in such an endeavor — selling stuff and taking a cut is hardly a new strategy for the online retail monster. Beyond combining “app store” into one horribly annoying word, however, we’re not sure what Amazon brings to the table with this endeavor. In the end, it’s like we are now in a time machine moving backward. The mobile app distribution market went form a scattered mess run by third parties to single on-device portals that simplified the process tremendously. Apparently that solution left too many hands out of the pot, however, and third parties like Handango, GetJar and Amazon will slowly try to work their way into the picture. But we’re not sure what their value proposition is, and without a reason for existing we may see them disappear as quickly as they show up.
[Via TechCrunch]
