So You Want to Be an Android Developer?

Posted Jul 12th 2010 1:40PM by Tom Taulli
Filed under: Google (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL), Nokia Corp. (NOK), Research in Motion (RIMM), Technology

Android logo Apple's (AAPL) buzz machine continues to crowd-out rivals like Research in Motion (RIMM) and Nokia (NOK). Yet, Google's (GOOG) Android is still able to stand out -- and get more and more traction in the market.

For example, this mobile operating system is seeing a whopping 160,000 activations every day. In fact, this growth helped supercharge HTC's latest quarter, with a 63% spike in revenues to $1.88 billion. At the same time, Motorola (MOT) and Verizon (VZ) are getting ready to launch the Droid X. And yes, this device is getting strong reviews.

Despite all this, Android still has much room to catch up with the iPhone juggernaut. Just look at the marketplace for mobile apps. The Apple store has more than 225,000 and the list keeps growing. As for Android, it will likely pass the 100,000 threshold by the end of this month, according to a report from AndroLib.

So to keep up the pressure, Android continues to offer new tools. Perhaps one of the most interesting is the Google App Inventor. Essentially, this allows anyone to develop Android apps.

Anyone Can Do It?

As is customary for the Android platform, the App Inventor is free (all you need is a Gmail account). It is also a sophisticated piece of software that has taken about a year of development.

But unlike some engineering tools from Google, the App Inventor is incredible easy to use. Actually, the company tested the software with a broad range of users, including six graders, high schoolers and undergraduates.

If you walk on any schoolyard or campus today, you'll notice that many students walk around with their heads down. Of course, the reason is that they are glued to their smartphones.

So why not make it seamless to develop their own apps? It's definitely a clever idea. True, Apple claims there's an app for everything, but the fact remains that sometimes people want to create a simple app for their unique needs. It's similar to the idea of how MySpace users can create their funky profiles.

Like using Legos, the App Inventory allows a user to simply drag-and-drop a menu of program blocks to create apps. Each block represents a function like a phone's GPS, SMS capabilities, friend list and so on. So, it's possible to create apps that do things like remember where you parked your car or gives an interactive tour of a museum.

Ultimately, the App Inventor should create more engagement and value-add for Android phones. And in contrast to Apple's strict developer requirements -- and complex programming tools -- the App Inventor is likely to be a differentiator for Android and perhaps even a game-changer for rapidly evolving smartphone space.