One of the huge advantages that Apple has on rivals (both in smartphones and in whatever forthcoming tablet/netbook gadget it comes up with) is its developer network and 100,000-app strong App Store. So we were pleased to learn of Insyde Market, which may be the first marketplace for the distribution of Android applications specifically for netbooks.
The existence of the marketplace is interesting in that Android netbooks don’t even officially exist, although several companies are rumored to have devices in the works. Further, it’s unclear whether Google will cast its Android net beyond smartphones to encompass netbooks, or wait for the debut of its Chrome OS next year.
The marketplace is a subsidiary of Insyde Software Corp., which is headquartered in Taipei and has a U.S. presence in Boston. It has been live for one month. While we’re encouraged that there’s a marketplace at all, we feel that the folks behind it should have lined up more developer support before launching. The marketplace currently showcases 18 app categories (many of them empty) with a whopping total of 48 applications available for download.
And maybe it’s just us, but when we see a “contact us” button on a site, we expect to be presented with a way to engage in two-way communication (such as a phone number), not an e-mail form with a promise to get back to us “as soon as we can.” This is important if Insyde Market is to build up a respectable developer network.
In any event, it’s nice to see pent-up enthusiasm and excitement for the emerging platform. If nothing else, it helps validate the market for netbooks and smartbooks running something other than Windows.
Lisa
