The guys at Google have got to be smiling. A double shot of iPhone App Store banning has mobile developers fuming -- and could provide just the ammo Android needs for its upcoming launch.
Apple has officially kicked two popular apps out of its App Store over the past days. Podcaster, a program that lets you circumvent iTunes to directly download podcasts, found out it was getting the "REJECTED" stamp just before the weekend. Now, the makers of the popular tethering tool NetShare are sharing a similar plight. NetShare disappeared without notice in August. Its creators now say they've finally been told they too are banned for good.
Developers such as Fraser Speirs, who crafted the Flickr browsing app Exposure, are taking strong stands in light of the news. "I will never write another iPhone application for the App Store as currently constituted," Speirs states in a recent blog. "Apple's current practice of rejecting certain applications at the final hurdle -- submission to the App Store -- is disastrous for investor confidence," he says.
Now enter Android. The open source mobile system is set to hit the market any moment, with the much-anticipated T-Mobile device expected to be revealed within weeks. While Google's operating system has suffered its own share of blips along the way, the anger over Apple may be just what it needs to attract positive attention. Android's app "market," as it's being called, will not be moderated or controlled. Instead, any developer will be able to register, directly upload his product and enter a description, and presto -- it's live. Users, not administrators, will vote on apps and determine their placement within the site.
If the first Android phone hits stores soon, the timing could not be better. At a moment when a dictatorship-style approach is causing such grief, the notion of a democratic alternative may have more appeal than ever expected.
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