Android Market Launches Along with G1

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Earlier today, the Android Market officially launched, along with the arrival of the new G1 phone from T-Mobile, which is the very first Android phone. There is a showcase that features a peel at more than fifty existing applications, with lots more to come. These apps are currently free of charge, with paid apps to come in the first quarter of next year.

Developers keep about 70% of the revenue from paid apps, with carriers taking most of the rest. Unlike Apple, Google isn’t taking a chunk of the price. Next Monday all third-party developers will be able to start uploading their apps.

Soon, we should see hundreds of Android apps, based on the Apple experience. Unlike Apple, however, there will be no quality control in the Android Market other than the community, which will be able to rate and review the apps.

TechCrunch gives us a look at their top 10 Android apps.

It’s widely speculated that T-Mobile pre-sold up to 1.5 million G1 phones, although that figure may be overstated. There is no doubt, however, that phone is hugely popular and will benefit from the path forged by the iPhone. In fact, yesterday Apple announced that it sold almost 7 million iPhones in one quarter, since the July introduction of the 3G version of the device.

CNET does a speed test comparing the iPhone and the G1. The G1 wins.

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