G1's Android Market does a good job of copying the iPhone App Store [video demo]

We already knew that the iPhone’s App Store has been a resounding success. And that’s before Apple began running newspaper ads boasting of 10,000 apps available and 300 million downloads since its launch just five months ago. Part of that success can be attributed to the way in which the iPhone as a platform has galvanized developers, while a second major factor is the simplicity of the App Store itself. For example, don’t underestimate the significance of having the store bundled with the handset, supported by over-the-air downloads. The result is that Apple has popularized the notion of third-party software on a mobile phone like never before — how many people do you know with a smartphone from Nokia, RIM or others, who haven’t installed a single third-party application?

See also: The real surprise of the App Store isn’t number of downloads or revenue

While attracting developers is easier said than done, creating an App Store equivalent, especially in hindsight, should be a no brainer. Having spent nearly a week with the T-Mobile G1 — the so-called GPhone — I’m glad to report that Google has done a good job replicating the iPhone experience with the Android Market.

Check out my video walk through after the jump…

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last100 is edited by Steve O'Hear. Aside from founding last100, Steve is co-founder and CEO of Beepl and a freelance journalist who has written for numerous publications, including TechCrunch, The Guardian, ZDNet, ReadWriteWeb and Macworld, and also wrote and directed the Silicon Valley documentary, In Search of the Valley. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.

2 Responses to “G1's Android Market does a good job of copying the iPhone App Store [video demo]”

  1. Pete says:

    Hey Steve, thanks for the video, I was wondering how the android market looked/worked on the G1.
    One question – does the market also run in portrait mode? It looked like the comments view was a little cramped in landscape mode.

  2. Steve O'Hear says:

    @ Pete

    Yes the market works in portrait mode, as do all apps as far I know.

Leave a Reply to Pete