Amazon Amps Up Apps Rivalry

Apparently, Amazon is plotting a deeper foray into Google's and Apple's turf, with plans to open an online applications store for smartphones running Google's Android software. Amazon's entry into the mobile-applications marketplace would open a new battlefield with Apple, which pioneered the market with its iPhone App Store. Amazon already competes with Apple's iTunes in sales of digital music, videos and books. Amazon will also be pitting itself against a formidable rival in Google, which created the Android operating system. Google runs its own digital-app marketplace called Android Market. Google's website has 80,000 apps and is the second largest after Apple's App Store, which has 250,000 apps. But unlike Apple, Google doesn't screen the submissions for quality or organize how they are promoted.