First appeared in Mercury News
The Android Market, where Google (GOOG) distributes mobile
apps and other digital content, is getting a revamp -- to be replaced starting
Tuesday with a newly named "Google Play" store as the company moves
to compete more directly with Apple (AAPL) and Amazon as a seller of digital
music, video, games, apps and books.
First launched in October 2008 after the first Android
smartphone went on sale, the Android Market was primarily a place to download
smartphone apps. But with Google adding movie rentals and a streaming music
service in 2011, the company now is trying to create a unified, easier to
navigate online store that it says will make things better for consumers and
content creators alike.
Google Play launches worldwide Tuesday on the Web and over
the course of the week for people connecting with Android smartphones and
tablets. Analysts said Google is making a crucial, necessary step to match its
competitors by putting all its digital offerings in one store, and posting the
equivalent of virtual signs in the aisles so consumers can more easily find the
things they are looking for.
"For the users, it's really about delivering this
simpler, more integrated experience," Chris Yerga, Google's engineering
director for digital content, said in an interview. "It's sort of like the
chocolate and peanut butter thing -- the whole is greater than the sum of the
parts. It's going to attract more purchasers to the store. It's good for us --
it's good for Google -- but it's also good for our content partners."
As Google tries to compete with Apple's integrated system of
iPhones and iPads connected to the music, video and books in its iTunes store,
a better, easier-to-use content store is critical for the Mountain View
Internet giant, said Mike McGuire, an analyst with Gartner who follows the
digital content market.
"The biggest challenge they have is they don't have
near the level of control that Apple does," McGuire said. "They don't
control all the hardware like Apple does, but they can make the navigation and
the discovery of either content or apps easier. They have to do this. It's a
crucial step for them."
Google's content model differs from Apple in that it is more
oriented around the Internet cloud, meaning digital music or books are
generally stored on Google's servers, and streamed to Android phones and
tablets through an Internet connection, rather than being stored locally on the
device as it typically is with Apple's system.
The upside of the Google model is that there is no need to
plug one device into another to sync content, and your books, games or music
follow you seamlessly from device to device. The downside is that in remote
areas where no broadband connection is available, there's sometimes no way to
access what you want.
For content providers like Glu Mobile, a mobile gaming
company that makes games for smartphones and tablets that run Google's Android,
Apple's iOS and Microsoft's Windows Phone software, a new Google Play store
that allows people to easily find games is critical to the success of Android.
"You can have the best game in the world, but if people
can't find it you're dead in the water," said Adam Flanders, senior vice
president of sales and marketing for Glu Mobile. "If people can find the
great content, then it benefits the game companies like us."
Flanders said Glu Mobile is "absolutely excited"
about the Google Play store, because it can help the San Francisco company take
better advantage of the Android smartphones and tablets in use, a huge number
that despite its size, analysts say, is not as lucrative as Apple's. Android
chief Andy Rubin said last week that 850,000 new Android devices are being
activated every day.
Yerga said the consolidation of separate stores for e-books
and music into Google Play is just one step in how Google intends to improve
its digital content offerings.
"I think of this as a commitment or a confirmation that
Google is really serious about digital content," he said. "One of the
great things about Google Play is it kind of solidifies things, and it gives us
a great foundation for building new features and expanding our offerings going
forward."
