Amazon Appstore

Legal
January 16, 2013
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Apple Amazon Appstore Settlement Talks

Judge tells Amazon and Apple to resolve Appstore trademark dispute before trial

By on January 16, 2013 at 1:35 PM.

Judge tells Amazon and Apple to resolve Appstore trademark dispute before trial

The judge presiding over Apple’s (AAPL) trademark infringement lawsuit against Amazon (AMZN) has told both parties to resolve the issue prior to their scheduled court appearance set to take place later this year. Apple filed a complaint last year claiming that Amazon’s Appstore infringed upon on the company’s “App Store” trademark. Amazon the called the allegations baseless and argued that because the term is generic, Apple has no case. Earlier this month, the judge partially dismissed the case, ruling that Apple cannot bring a false advertising claim against Amazon. More →

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mobile
December 7, 2012
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Amazon Appstore Downloads

Amazon’s Android Appstore explodes, downloads increase 500% over last year

By on December 7, 2012 at 4:44 PM.

Amazon’s Android Appstore explodes, downloads increase 500% over last year

Amazon’s (AMZN) Appstore is on fire. While the marketplace may not boost as many apps as Google’s (GOOG) Play Store, it has seen substantial growth in the past year. In fact, the company announced on Thursday that its Appstore has seen downloads increase more than 500% since last year. Amazon also revealed that the number of developers utilizing in-app purchasing doubled in the third quarter and that 23 of the top 25 grossing apps now incorporate the technology. More →

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Services
June 20, 2012
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Amazon announces European Appstore, coming this summer

By on June 20, 2012 at 11:50 PM.

Amazon announces European Appstore, coming this summer

Amazon Appstore European Launch

Amazon on Wednesday announced that it has begun to accept app submissions from developers in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain for distribution in its Appstore for Android later this year. Amazon’s Appstore in the U.S. is home to “tens of thousands of apps and games” and has seen great success in just one year. “We are thrilled at the success our developers have experienced on the Amazon platform in the last year,” said Jim Adkins, Vice President of the Amazon Appstore. “Some developers have seen revenue double since the launch of In-App Purchasing. We’re excited to open the door to even more opportunity by expanding app sales outside the U.S. We see tremendous potential for current developers in our distribution program to grow with the international expansion. We also encourage new developers to join and participate in the platform’s growth.” The Appstore is expected to launch in select European countries later this summer. Amazon’s press release follows below. More →

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mobile
June 13, 2012
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Amazon Appstore coming to Europe this summer, Kindle Fire may follow

By on June 13, 2012 at 2:00 AM.

Amazon Appstore coming to Europe this summer, Kindle Fire may follow

Amazon Appstore European Launch

Amazon’s Appstore for Android is reportedly nearing a European launch, marking the first time the store will be available outside the United States, according to AllThingsD. Some time next week, the Internet giant will announce that it will begin accepting submissions from developers in the near future, with the store expected to go live later this summer. Similar to the Appstore, Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet is also only available in the U.S., however the report indicates that the Seattle-based company could soon offer the device overseas. Amazon’s tablet saw an explosive debut quarter, capturing almost 14% of the U.S. tablet market, but since then sales have begun to fizzle and the company may be looking to offer the slate to a wider audience. Amazon launched its Appstore in the U.S. in March of last year, almost eight months before the Kindle Fire went on sale. The timetable for a possible European Fire launch is unknown. More →

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mobile
May 22, 2012
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Amazon Appstore now allows Android users to Test Drive apps

By on May 22, 2012 at 5:15 PM.

Amazon Appstore now allows Android users to Test Drive apps

Amazon Appstore Test Drvie

The Amazon Appstore was updated on Monday to include the company’s popular Test Drive feature on Android devices. The retail giant previously allowed users to test apps using desktop browsers prior to purchasing them, but now trials can be tested on devices. “Today we begin the beta rollout of Test Drive on Android phones,” Amazon said. “Now customers can instantly try apps on their phone — where a majority of app purchases take place — without downloading or installing anything.” The Test Drive feature is currently available on more than 5,000 apps and is compatible with select Android handsets, however Amazon promises the feature will be rolled out to “many more” devices in the coming months. More →

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Software
April 10, 2012
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Amazon announces In-App Purchasing to take on Apple, Google [video]

By on April 10, 2012 at 9:30 AM.

Amazon announces In-App Purchasing to take on Apple, Google [video]

Amazon on Tuesday announced a new mechanism that will facilitate in-app purchases within mobile applications available for download in the Amazon Appstore. Much like the services currently offered in iOS apps by Apple, in BlackBerry apps by RIM and in Android apps by Google, Amazon’s new system will allow developers to sell additional content, level packs, new features and more from within their apps. ”Amazon Appstore’s In-App Purchasing service enables developers to generate more revenue from their apps,” Amazon Appstore director Aaron Rubenson said in a statement. “In-App Purchasing is simple to integrate and gives developers access to millions of Amazon customers who are already familiar with Amazon’s 1-Click payment system. Many of Amazon Appstore’s customers have shopped with Amazon before and they trust Amazon’s easy payment process, which leads to higher conversion of developers’ in-app content and subscriptions.” Amazon’s press release follows below, along with a video detailing the new service. More →

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mobile
March 30, 2012
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Amazon Appstore apps earn three times more than Google Play apps; Apple still No. 1

By on March 30, 2012 at 4:30 PM.

Amazon Appstore apps earn three times more than Google Play apps; Apple still No. 1

Earlier this month, Apple crossed a record 25 billion downloads from more than 550,000 available apps, while Google in December surpassed 10 billion downloads from 400,000 available apps. Analytics firm Flurry on Friday announced the results of a new study that examined various mobile app markets, and interestingly enough, the study found that apps in Amazon’s competing Android Appstore earns three times more revenue than those within Google’s own marketplace. Apple’s App Store took in the most revenue, with the Amazon Appstore earning 89% of the revenue Apple did and Google’s Play marketplace making just 23%. “Another way to interpret the results is that for every $1.00 an app generates in the iTunes App Store, it generates $0.89 in the Amazon Appstore and $0.23 in Google Play,” Flurry analysts wrote in their report. “These results mirror those of a similar analysis conducted by Flurry last December, where we found for every $1.00 generated in the iTunes App Store, developers generated $0.24 in the Android Market.” The statistics come from 11 million daily active users of top-ranked applications available on iOS and Android over a 45-day period between mid-January through the end of February. More →

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Gaming
March 22, 2012
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Angry Birds Space now available for $0.99 [video]

By on March 22, 2012 at 8:40 AM.

Angry Birds Space now available for $0.99 [video]

Rovio on Thursday released Angry Birds Space for iOS and Android devices, as well as OS X and Windows PCs. In the fourth major Birds release, users will get to fling birds on zero-gravity planets while utilizing new gameplay features such as slow-motion and lightspeed destruction. “This is Rovio at its finest, and we are more than excited to bring Angry Birds Space to all our fans worldwide,” said Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio. “This launch marks a huge step for us as a company, and our whole team and partners have really pulled together to bring out a fantastic array of exciting products and experiences. We hope that our fans will find all things Angry Birds Space as delightful as the Rovio family does.” Angry Birds Space is available for $0.99 in the App Store on the iPhone and iPod touch, and Angry Birds Space HD is available for $2.99 on the iPad. The Mac version is available for $4.99 in the Mac App Store. The game is available for Android devices for free with advertisements in the Google Play marketplace, with an ad-free versions available for $0.99 and an HD version for Android tablets available for $2.99 in the Amazon Appstore. Read on for a video and Rovio’s press release. More →

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mobile
March 15, 2012
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Amazon’s Android app store celebrates one year and 31,000 apps

By on March 15, 2012 at 12:45 PM.

Amazon’s Android app store celebrates one year and 31,000 apps

Amazon on Thursday announced that its mobile marketplace, the Amazon Appstore, is celebrating its first birthday. The company is kicking of its celebration with a week of deals on some of its most popular apps. “Customers have used the Amazon Appstore to test drive and buy millions of apps and games for their Kindle Fire and other Android devices in the first year alone,” said Aaron Rubenson, director of Amazon Appstore for Android. “To thank customers for shopping with us, we worked closely with our developers to offer special discounts on some of the most popular apps all week long.” Amazon’s selection of Android apps has grown nearly eight-fold since it launched last year, from 4,000 apps to over 31,000. In its first year, the most downloaded paid app was Cut the Rope, followed by Angry Birds and Where’s My Water. The most downloaded free app was Angry Birds Free Edition, followed by Netflix and Solitaire by MobilityWare. Read on for Amazon’s press release. More →

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Tablets
January 4, 2012
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Velocity Micro announces two new Android 4.0 tablets coming to CES

By on January 4, 2012 at 10:00 PM.

Velocity Micro announces two new Android 4.0 tablets coming to CES


To get a jump on the competition, Velocity Micro has announced two new Android 4.0 tablets set to debut at next week’s Consumer Electronics Show. The first is the budget-friendly 7-inch Cruz T507 tablet with a Cortex A8 chipset clocked at 1.2GHz. The T507 also features 512MB RAM, ARM graphics, HDMI out, 8GB internal storage and a front facing camera. The company also announced the T510, a 9.7-inch iPad-inspired tablet with the same internals as its smaller counterpart. Both devices will be running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, though neither will have access to the Android Market and will instead use Amazon’s Appstore. An image of the T507 follows below. More →

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mobile
December 12, 2011
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Facebook tops Google’s own offerings to become most popular Android app

By on December 12, 2011 at 9:00 AM.

Facebook tops Google’s own offerings to become most popular Android app

Beating out popular own-brand apps like Google Search, Gmail, Google Maps and YouTube, Facebook holds the title as the most actively used Android app. Market research firm Nielsen on Monday published the findings of a month-long study to determine the most-used Android apps currently available for the platform. The study made use of Nielsen’s proprietary on-device monitoring software, which has been voluntarily installed by thousands of panelists across the country. Beyond the Android Market itself, Facebook was the most actively-used app on the Android platform over the past 30 days in all age brackets. Among users aged 18 to 24, Google Search was the second most used app in the firm’s new study with 77% of panelists having opened the app over the past 30 days. Gmail and Google Maps followed with 79% a piece, and YouTube slid in behind them with 64%. Following the suite of Google apps was Pandora Radio with a distant 30%. A similar study conducted by Nielsen in July found that Facebook was the third most popular app behind Google Maps and Gmail. Read on for more. More →

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Tablets
August 4, 2011
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Amazon tablet shipments could reach 3 million units in Q3

By on August 4, 2011 at 9:45 PM.

Amazon tablet shipments could reach 3 million units in Q3

Amazon’s manufacturing partner is expected to ship as many as 3 million tablets for the online retail giant this quarter, Taiwan Economic News reports. BGR exclusively reported this past May that Amazon is currently prepping two tablets for launch, a low-end dual-core “Coyote” and a high-end quad-core “Hollywood.” The former is expected to hit the market first and Amazon is preparing to make quite a splash, as it reportedly has ordered between 800,000 and 1 million units each month this quarter from manufacturing partner Quanta Computer. The new order estimates are up from the 700,000 – 800,000 units reported in May by DigiTimes. Foxconn is said to have landed the contract to manufacture Amazon’s high-end 10.1-inch “Hollywood” tablet, which is expected to start shipping next year. More →

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Gaming
May 17, 2011
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Plants vs. Zombies headed to Android, free for a day from Amazon

By on May 17, 2011 at 3:30 AM.

Plants vs. Zombies headed to Android, free for a day from Amazon

PopCap Games announced on Monday that it has reached an agreement with Amazon to offer Android games through Amazon’s Appstore. The first title, Chuzzle, will launch tomorrow and will be followed by the hit game Plants vs. Zombies later this month. Both titles will be free on the day of their debut, and will be available for $2.99 each thereafter. Each game will be exclusively available through Amazon’s Appstore for a two week period, after which they should also be available from the Android Market. We’ve played Plants vs Zombies on iOS a few times, and it’s definitely a game you’ll want to keep your eye out for. Plus, it’s free and there are zombies. It doesn’t get any better than that. Hit the jump for the full release from PopCap Games. More →

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