There are now more phones loaded with Google's Android smart phone software in the world than there are phones running any other phone "operating system"—including Windows Mobile. Blackberry, the Apple iPhone OS, or the Symbian OS used worldwide by Nokia and others. And with the introduction of "4G" data networks, wireless companies are planning on selling a lot more.
But despite the popularity of Android, apps for the smart phone OS have been far outsold by Apple's Apps Store That's because there hasn't really been a good centralized way to find and download apps to Android, and some cellular providers have had their own "app stores" and limits on the apps that could be downloaded.
Now, Google is trying to change that and harness the downloading and purchasing power of all those Android users with a new Android Market. The web-based marketplace organizes apps and games (both free and paid) by category, and gives Android app developers a central place to submit, promote and sell their wares in a similar fashion to Apple's iTunes App Store for the iPhone.
You can log into the Android Market with your Google account, and select or purchase apps from your PC. You'll need to associate your phone number with your Google account, so when you select an app to install, it gets sent to your phone. You'll need a separate account for each phone you have—unlike with the AppleApp Store, you can't install the apps across all your devices.
