Amazon opening Android app emporium to annoy Google

Amazon is planning an Android app store to rival Google's own Android market. The Wall Street Journal reports an Amazon Android app emporium would offer developers 70 per cent of revenue from apps to be used on phones powered by Google's open-source operating system, the same split as the Google and Apple app stores.

The online retailer has already contacted developers and is accepting promotional materials. Although there's no detail of how the store will work, Amazon has the advantage of a massive customer base and an existing shopping infrastructure, by contrast to the clunky and hard to navigate Android Market.

The fact that Android is open source continues to be its biggest strength and greatest weakness. Different phones are powered by different versions of the OS, with manufacturers' tweaked front ends often leading to delays for updates. There's a much wider range of apps than closed shops like Apple's tightly controlled iTunes App Store, but with no guarantee of quality. A new alternative to the Android Market introduces more choice for the customer, but further fragments the Android experience.

While you're waiting for the new app store, Amazon is your one-stop shop for books, avenging narwhals and unicorns impaling mimes. To decide what you want to download from the new store, take a look at our guide to the best Android apps.