I’ve seen a few references to a forum entry on Android Community Forums over the last 24hrs and while I don’t think the case in question can be rated highly, the thought that it generates is an interesting one to discuss.

Update: Techcrunch have been investigating and have some more details here.

Rumour: Amazon will start an Application Store [Ref: Amazon cooking something up?]

I’ve been analyzing the Intel AppUp store recently and also thinking about how Android-based tablets can solve the problem of not having the hooks and channel available for applications on large-screen Android devices. We already see that the requirement for an app-store on a consumer device is critical and the potential gains for the store that becomes ‘de facto’ are huge. Google are having successes in the smartphone area (although one report I read yesterday says that it needs to do a lot better due to the limited country coverage of Google Checkout. Update: News on that today too) but there are other areas too. Tablets, TV, Netbooks and Laptops. There’s even a chance to spruce-up the desktop application experience. I don’t see any one store covering this whole area but that doesn’t mean you can’t win if you rule the niche or vertical.

Amazon are no stranger to distribution and as we found out last year, already have a software distribution and monetisation product. It was games-only then but can someone please tell me the difference between distributing a game and distributing any other piece of PC software? The Amazon service runs in the cloud with all the usual Amazon specification, rating, review and comment features and as I write, there are 1823 games being offered from free to $39.99 (Service only available in the U.S.)

What if Amazon tuned this service up for any PC software and rolled it out to their 100+ countries? What if they included more than just PC software? What if Google asked them to carry a selection of premium apps aimed at new markets? What if a hundred thousand Android apps could suddenly be sold through credit card, and direct bank transfer? Update: Even newer news indicates that Amazon might be readying an Android Tablet.

There are a number of important elements that an App-store should have:

• Categorisation
• Monetises
• Feedback/rating channel
• Simplify install process
• Provide search and discovery facilities
• Simplify migration of PCs
• Permit try-and-buy
• Helps devs with incentives/marketing
• Allow the community to curate
• Provides affiliation opportunities

When you check these requirements off against an Amazon offering, nearly all of them are covered and with the huge Amazon brand and web presence, marketing it should be easier and cheaper than for most. The only barriers will be 1) Getting devs to submit their apps 2) Getting customers to download the market client. Both barriers are huge and interdependent and could need a pile of cash to solve.

Update: If Amazon were to successfully ship a million their own Android tablets with a set of pre-prepared tablet apps done under NDA, they might solve the chicken-and-egg problem of apps and pre-installed customer base. It’s exactly what Intel are attempting with netbooks and AppUp so it will be interesting to watch and compare.

Related article: Kindle for (UM)PC now available.
Related article: What’s the best PC for the Amazon Kindle PC software?

I doubt many of you will be spending $599 on a UMPC just for the Kindle PC application but if you’re thinking of a mobile tablet PC anyway, here’s my top tip for a good PC-based ebook reading experience. The Viliv X70 UMPC. (Video after the jump.)

I won’t claim that this is a perfect e-reader device (see this article for an idea of the ideal PC for ebook reading) and as the Kindle software is locked-down to the Amazon store, it’s hardly flexible but considering I can run Mobipocket, PDFs and practically every other format of ebook known, it works out to be quite the flexible solution. Oh, and it’s a PC!

For those that aren’t familiar with the X70, it runs an Intel Atom at 1.3Ghz with a fast SSD drive and has a battery life of up to around 7 or 8 hours. It weighs 660gm and you can buy it with an optional built-in 3G module. More information here.

Make sure you watch the video in ‘HQ’ mode (button bottom-right) for the best quality.

Sascha from Netbooknews has just tweeted that the Kindle application for the PC is now available. ‘This is the beginning of the end for the Kindle hardware’ he says.

Well I’ve installed the software, linked it to an account in the UK and sure enough, it works like a charm. I just bought a book online, hit F5 and there it was on the PC.

As you can see I’ve got it running on my Gigabyte T1028M with the convertible touchscreen. I’ve rotated the screen and set the text to max width. That’s what it looks like on a 600×1028 screen. The margins are somewhat wide don’t you think? Touching the screen on the left and right margins changes page. You can access the contents, cover and bookmarks but you can’t make notes or highlights. That’s coming soon…

As with all our services, we plan to continue improving Kindle for PC. Below are some features we are thinking about bringing to Kindle for PC in the near future:

• Create notes and highlights
  Thanks to Whispersync, you can already read your notes and highlights from other devices on Kindle for PC. We’d like to add the ability to create notes and highlights using the Kindle for PC application.
• Search
  Find a word or a sentence in the book you are currently reading.
• Zoom and rotate images
  Click on an image to see an expanded view and rotate it if desired.

Images (the cover at least) are in glorious Technicolor!

Next up…the Viliv X70. It’s a tablet, much lighter and one of the best PC’s you can get if you want to take advantage of the Kindle for PC software [Article: What’s the best PC for the Kindle PC software?]

I’ll run off a quick video of the X70 and post it in a new article. or should I read a book. Hmm…

Well done Amazon. At last an easy to-use selection of ‘no-CD’ games that you can download, test and buy from your mobile PC.

Amazon launched their Game Downloads section on Tuesday. It’s a new section of Amazon.com that allows you to choose and trial any of the games and then purchase it if you like it. Game downloads are nothing new but this simple service with this trusted brand could be just what the casual gamers on netbooks want.

There are currently just under 600 titles available from various software houses and download and trial is a simple process of logging in, downloading a download application and then downloading and installing the app.

I tried Airport Mania on the Medion Akoya Mini netbook and the download process worked very smoothly. The game worked smoothly too as I seemed to have killed 30 minutes of my day. (The maximum trial time of a game is 30 minutes)

The selection of games is definitely ‘casual’ but this download model, combined with the Amazon brand and the millions of netbooks out there without optical drives could tempt many software houses into adapting their older titles giving them a fresh new market to step into.

If anyone tests this out, be sure to drop some comments below for other readers. What netbook and what game did you try? How did it go for you? Have you used game download services for the your netbook before? If so, which service did you try?

Via Buzz Out Loud podcast 903

Chances are: this is a highly targeted ad designed for tech shoppers like myself, but it is cool to see the biggest online retailer getting serious about netbooks. The ad is inspired by Theodore Roosevelt’s famous "speak softly and carry a large stick". Amazon has obviously been taking notice since they saw netbooks topping their laptop sales charts recently.

The ad is nice and all but can anyone spot what is wrong? If you said "That’s the old HP Mini-Note 2133!" you’d be correct (give yourself a pat on the back). I guess I really can’t expect an e-retailer giant like Amazon to stay up to date on everything that happens in the market but I would have been more impressed if they had the new Mini 1000 [Portal page] featured in the ad.