Asus is developing their own appstore in conjunction with Intel and Microsoft to debut on Netbooks and the new Asus EEE Slate PC.
The App store market is very hot and competitive right now, with The Apple App Store boasting 200,000 applications, Google Android Market with 38,000 and the WebOS market with over 10,000 applications.
Although Asustek did not elaborate on its format or release date for the new service, although Asus is very adamant about launching a competitive service for their entire line of mobile computing products. Word has it; Asus will expand on their cloud computing offerings for their EEE Slate PC.
The Big question that lingers is how Asus is going to entice various programmers and communities to get behind and support the product. Also, how is Asus going to utilize their partnerships with Intel and Microsoft? The Big rumor right now is that Asus will have bundled app store software on any PC that is made by Asus, such as Netbooks and portable computers featuring an Intel CPU and Asus motherboard.
The Slate PC and E-Reader independent market is trying to get off the ground, in a big way, with no clear cut winner as of yet. Amazon has released a SDK to a select number of developers to start making applications for its Kindle E-Readers. Other companies such as Notion Ink are offering a service to try and coherence developers to make Android specific apps for their Adam; they also introduced a competition called Genesis which offers 1,000,000 in prizes to application developers. Entourage as well has custom applications and content distribution networks for its Edge E-Reader.
So there are many companies trying to foster their platform as a viable way to make money and tap into a finite pool of programming talent to separate their app store from their competition. Will Asus with their larger name brand presence as a pillar in the computing industry help them with their App Store?
We will continue to report on this, as more information is available.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
