Amazon on Thursday announced that its mobile marketplace, the Amazon Appstore, is celebrating its first birthday. The company is kicking of its celebration with a week of deals on some of its most popular apps. “Customers have used the Amazon Appstore to test drive and buy millions of apps and games for their Kindle Fire and other Android devices in the first year alone,” said Aaron Rubenson, director of Amazon Appstore for Android. “To thank customers for shopping with us, we worked closely with our developers to offer special discounts on some of the most popular apps all week long.” Amazon’s selection of Android apps has grown nearly eight-fold since it launched last year, from 4,000 apps to over 31,000. In its first year, the most downloaded paid app was Cut the Rope, followed by Angry Birds and Where’s My Water. The most downloaded free app was Angry Birds Free Edition, followed by Netflix and Solitaire by MobilityWare. Read on for Amazon’s press release.

Amazon Appstore for Android Celebrates First Birthday with a Week of Deals on Customers’ Favorite Apps and Games

Since its launch one year ago, Amazon Appstore customers have bought millions of apps and games for Kindle Fire and other Android-based devices

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Mar. 15, 2012– Amazon Appstore for Android is celebrating its first birthday with a week of deals on some of its customers’ favorite apps and games, including iconic titles such as Fruit Ninja, Wolfram Alpha, Splashtop Remote Desktop, Dr. Seuss’s The Shape of Me and Other Stuff, TuneIn Radio Pro, TETRIS, PAC-MAN, The Lost City, MONOPOLY, AccuWeather Platinum and Jamie Oliver’s 20 Minute Meals. Birthday deals start today with one of the top paid apps, Plants vs. Zombies, at 67 percent off.

Tomorrow, Amazon will announce two more app deals. On day three, three more new app deals will be revealed and so on for the remainder of the week-long celebration. Also starting today, the Amazon Appstore kicks off its Amazon Appstore for Android Birthday Giveaway and will award a Kindle Fire to eight lucky winners who enter the sweepstakes by March 31.* For more information and for all birthday deals visit www.amazon.com/appstorebirthday.

“Customers have used the Amazon Appstore to test drive and buy millions of apps and games for their Kindle Fire and other Android devices in the first year alone,” said Aaron Rubenson, director of Amazon Appstore for Android. “To thank customers for shopping with us, we worked closely with our developers to offer special discounts on some of the most popular apps all week long.”

Customers can use Amazon’s Test Drive feature to test out apps before buying. Once they download an app they can use it across multiple devices, including Kindle Fire, giving developers a new platform for reaching customers.

“We know how important discovery and monetization are for app developers,” said Rubenson. “Our investment in personalization technology helps customers find the best apps for their needs. And, our 1-Click technology makes it trivially easy to purchase apps with one click.”

“It’s been an exciting first year in the Amazon Appstore and we look forward to many more,” said Andrew Stein, director of Global Mobile Business and Products at PopCap Games, Inc. “All of our games, including the megahit Plants vs. Zombies, have done extremely well in the Amazon Appstore, for both Kindle Fire and other Android devices; it’s a testament to the great Amazon Appstore shopping experience resulting from its user-friendly design and comprehensive catalog.”

“We expected that the Amazon Appstore would be a success and it’s been evidenced in the growth of the revenues since the launch,” said Adam Flanders, senior vice president of Sales & Marketing at Glu Mobile, Inc. “We have seen revenues from Amazon grow by over 1,000 percent in the four months since the Kindle Fire launched alone, and Blood and Glory recently reached the #2 spot in Top Selling Games. Glu is thrilled with the momentum behind Kindle Fire and the Amazon Appstore’s strong platform, global customer base, and exceptional merchandising capabilities.”

“We were grateful that we were able to bring Dr. Seuss, The Berenstain Bears and Mercer Mayer’s Little Critter apps to the Amazon Appstore from the very beginning,” said Michel Kripalani, president of Oceanhouse Media. “Amazon provides visibility to a huge customer base. We’ve seen increased engagement with the apps over the last year, especially since the launch of Kindle Fire.”

“As Pandora continues our mission to provide people with personalized music they love, being a featured app on Kindle Fire has given us an exciting new platform to connect with our listeners, both existing and new, and we’ve been impressed with the high engagement rate we’ve seen on Kindle Fire,” said Simon Fleming-Wood, chief marketing officer of Pandora Media.

“At Quickoffice, we’ve experienced a massive lift in our Android app sales since the launch of Kindle Fire. The Amazon Appstore has been a great showcase for our app, and we’ve seen significant gains in conversion rates compared to other app stores based on the integrated Amazon buying experience,” said Alan Masarek, CEO of Quickoffice, Inc.

Amazon Appstore has grown its selection nearly eight-fold since launch, from 4,000 apps to over 31,000.
In its first year, the most downloaded paid app in the Amazon Appstore was Cut the Rope, followed by Angry Birds (Ad-Free) and Where’s My Water?; the most downloaded free app was Angry Birds Free, followed by Netflix and Solitaire by MobilityWare.

Amazon Appstore offers a paid app for free every day. If a customer had downloaded every Free App of the Day since launch, they would have saved nearly $1,000.

The paid app with the most 5-star reviews in the first year of the Amazon Appstore was Where’s My Water?, with over 3,000; the free app with the most 5-star reviews was Blood & Glory, with over 4,000.
In the Amazon Appstore’s first year, customers spent more than 7,700,000 minutes test driving apps; Bubble Buster was the most test-driven app, followed by Amazon MP3 for Android with Cloud Player and Memory Trainer.

Over the past year, the most popular app category for customers is games, followed by entertainment and productivity. Some of the most popular apps include Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, QuickOffice Pro, CalenGoo and Exchange by TouchDown.
Top Paid Apps (over the last 12 months)

1. Cut the Rope

2. Angry Birds (Ad-Free)

3. Where’s My Water?

4. Angry Birds Rio (Ad-Free)

5. Angry Birds Seasons (Ad-Free)

6. Plants vs. Zombies (Kindle Fire Edition)

7. Fruit Ninja

8. SCRABBLE (Kindle Fire Edition)

9. UNO (Kindle Fire Edition)

10. TETRIS

Top Free Apps (over the last 12 months)

1. Angry Birds Free

2. Netflix

3. Solitaire

4. Fruit Ninja Free

5. Angry Birds Seasons Free

6. Bubble Buster

7. Little Piano Free

8. Roller Lite

9. Jewels

10. Hangman Free

Apple is taking its fight to own the “App Store” moniker to a new opponent, and this time it’s GetJar. The Cupertino-based firm, which has filed similar lawsuits against both Amazon and Microsoft, sent the company a cease-and-desist letter asking it to stop using the name “App Store,” The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Apple believes that it owns the “App Store” trademark. Amazon responded and called the lawsuit “baseless.” Last week, a U.S. judge agreed and said that many other firms use the moniker as a descriptive term and that Apple’s use is “more descriptive than distinctive.” ”GetJar has been in the business of offering apps to consumers since 2005, well before Apple, and helped to pioneer the model that the general public understands as an app store today,” GetJar CEO, Ilja Laurs, said. “We have built a strong, global and growing business around this model, and plan to continue to use the phrase ‘app store’ to describe what we do. This move by Apple is yet more proof that the company tends to act as if it is above the law, and even as one of the smaller players in the space, we won’t be bullied by Apple.” In a blog post on the company’s website, GetJar CMO Patrick Mork explained that GetJar simply redirects users to Apple’s own store and that GetJar won’t stop using the term anytime soon. “GetJar won’t be subject to this kind of bullying,” Mork said. “We’re not going to ‘Cease & Desist.’ We were here long before Steve & Co. We were built by developers, to help developers. Not to help sell handsets or search results. In the words of Twisted Sister: We’re not going to take it! Steve Jobs isn’t our Dad.”

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A U.S. judge has shot down Apple’s request that Amazon stop using the word “Appstore” to describe its mobile application marketplace. Apple originally filed a lawsuit against Amazon in March of this year arguing that Amazon’s “Appstore” infringed on Apple’s “App Store” trademark. Amazon immediately responded calling the claims “baseless,” and now the court has taken its side. “The evidence does show that Apple has spent a great deal of money on advertising and publicity, and has sold/provided/furnished a large number of apps from its App Store,” Judge Phyllis Hamilton, said. “However, there is also evidence that the term ‘app store’ is used by other companies as a descriptive term for a place to obtain software applications for mobile devices.” Hamilton argued that Apple’s use of the phrase “App Store” was “more descriptive than distinctive.” Microsoft and Apple are also fighting over the term — and Microsoft has said that the term “App Store” is “generic for retail store services featuring apps.” Apple’s case against Amazon is currently being heard by an appeals board.

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PopCap Games announced on Monday that it has reached an agreement with Amazon to offer Android games through Amazon’s Appstore. The first title, Chuzzle, will launch tomorrow and will be followed by the hit game Plants vs. Zombies later this month. Both titles will be free on the day of their debut, and will be available for $2.99 each thereafter. Each game will be exclusively available through Amazon’s Appstore for a two week period, after which they should also be available from the Android Market. We’ve played Plants vs Zombies on iOS a few times, and it’s definitely a game you’ll want to keep your eye out for. Plus, it’s free and there are zombies. It doesn’t get any better than that. Hit the jump for the full release from PopCap Games.

Chuzzle® Comes to the Amazon Appstore for Android Tomorrow, Followed by Plants vs. Zombies™ Later This Month for Exclusive Two-Week Offers

SEATTLE, May 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — PopCap Games, the worldwide leader in casual games, today announced that it has signed an agreement with Amazon to offer its first Android games to the U.S. market, exclusively on the Amazon Appstore for Android during two different two-week periods.  As part of the agreement, Chuzzle® will be available beginning tomorrow through May 30, and will be followed by Plants vs. Zombies™ for Android during a second exclusive offer later this month.  The games will be entirely FREE for the first day of their availability, after which they’ll be available for purchase and download for a list price of US$2.99 each.

“Our relationship with Amazon is pivotal to PopCap’s overall strategy in bringing a growing roster of mobile titles to the ever-widening base of smartphone users,” noted Giordano Bruno Contestabile, PopCap’s senior director of global product and business strategy for mobile.  ”By making these titles available on the Android platform, we’ll significantly extend the reach of our top franchises to legions of new mobile customers and gaming fans alike.”

“PopCap is a brand synonymous with great mobile games, and we’re thrilled to offer our customers Chuzzle and Plants vs. Zombies for Android exclusively through the Amazon Appstore,” stated Aaron Rubenson, category leader at Amazon.

Chuzzle for Android features great, on-the-go gameplay action, including:

• Four different modes providing infinite level configurations and virtually limitless game play:
  • Classic Mode: the original Chuzzle in all its glory
  • Zen Mode: stress-free, endless play without levels, locks or other constraints; the player’s progress is indicated by colorful markers that appear as higher thresholds of popped chuzzles are reached
  • Mind-Bender Mode: a different sort of Chuzzle puzzle in which players slide rows and columns of chuzzles to make specified patterns
  • Speed Mode: standard Chuzzle action – only faster (and harder!)
• Trophy Room: your own personal “Hall of Fame” with more than twenty different trophies to collect and admire!
• Scrambles: instantly shuffles all chuzzles on the board anytime you run out of options/moves; in the mobile version of the game, players can earn and save up to five scrambles at any given time, earning an additional scramble every 150,000 points

Dynamic Level Generation: ensures each game is different no matter how many times you play

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in an interview earlier this week to “stay tuned” for news on the company’s plans to release its own tablet. Bezos wouldn’t come out and confirm the tablet, but he took particular care in clarifying that such a device would not replace its popular line of dedicated Kindle eBook readers. “We will always be very mindful that we will want a dedicated reading device,” Bezos continued. “In terms of any other product introductions, I shouldn’t answer.” It doesn’t take Nostradamus to see where Amazon is headed with all of its recent product and service launches, of course. An Amazon-controlled Android app store, a new streaming movie and TV show service, Cloud Drive, Cloud Player, the Amazon music store, Kindle… it all adds up to a self-contained ecosystem that will allow Amazon to issue a complete package when it finally does release its first tablet.

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Amazon on Monday issued its response in court to a lawsuit filed last month by Apple alleging that Amazon’s use of the term “Appstore” infringes on Apple’s “App Store” trademark. Apple’s suit looks to bar Amazon from using the term alongside its new Amazon Appstore for Android. In its response, Amazon called Apple’s claims baseless and insisted that “app store” is a generic term. Amazon even cited Apple’s recent quarterly earnings call, where Steve Jobs himself uses the term to describe Google’s Android Marketplace. “So there will be at least four app stores on Android, which customers must search among to find the app they want and developers will need to work with to distribute their apps and get paid,” Jobs said while criticizing Android on the call. “This is going to be a mess for both users and developers. Contrast this with Apple’s integrated App Store, which offers users the easiest-to-use largest app store in the world, preloaded on every iPhone.” Amazon has also filed a countersuit in which it has asked the court to dismiss Apple’s claim, order Apple to reimburse Amazon for attorney’s fees, and decree that Amazon’s use of the term “Appstore” does not infringe on Apple’s trademarks.

[Via GeekWire]

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If you’re looking to get a new Android device on the nation’s largest wireless carrier — and don’t mind buying online — listen up. Amazon Wireless and the Amazon Appstore are teaming up to offer Android handset purchasers a little added incentive. Now through Sunday, May 1st, customers that purchase any Verizon Wireless Android device will receive a $25 credit to the Amazon Appstore. You heard that right. Buy yourself a ThunderBolt, DROID 2, DROID X, DROID Pro, Fascinate, or any other Android set to cash in on this promotion. “The combination of Amazon Wireless and Amazon Appstore is unique in the industry because it provides customers with a one-stop Android shopping experience,” writes the company. “Amazon is excited to start offering customers promotions that give them a bonus once they get their phone.” No word on if the DROID Charge, which will be available on April 28th, will be eligible for this promotion. 

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The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) has taken exception with Amazon’s Android application store pricing practices. In a letter to its members, the group voiced concerns of stringent rules that revolve around the temporary discounting of games. “Amazon has little incentive not to use a developer’s content as a weapon with which to capture marketshare [sic] from competing app stores,” reads the correspondence. The IGDA specifically called out Amazon for requiring developers to permanently lower the price of an application on its store should the price of that same app be cut on a different distribution outlet — even if the pricing change is meant to be temporary. The group is concerned that Amazon’s Android Appstore will become too popular – forcing developers to accept the company’s lower price-ultimatum as the norm and further cutting into app profitability. Amazon has yet to publicly respond to the IGDA’s comments.

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Amazon on Tuesday announced the launch of its new on-device and Web-based Android application hub, the Amazon Appstore. As a direct rival to Google’s own Android Market, the Amazon Appstore features a wide range of Android games and applications. Amazon is also touting the exclusive availability of Rovio’s new app, Angry Birds Rio. Free for a limited time, Angry Birds Rio is Rovio’s latest game for the Android platform and it features all new levels with the same great characters we know and love. “The Android platform’s openness provides a great opportunity to reach new customers,” said Rovio CEO Mikael Hed in a statement. “We are thrilled to offer the Angry Birds suite of Android games using the easy and trusted shopping experience that Amazon is known for.” The Amazon Appstore is available immediately on Android devices as a downloadable app and on the Web, accessible from any Web browser. Hit the jump for the full press release.

Introducing Amazon Appstore for Android Customers Can Try Apps Before They Buy with New Test Drive Feature Angry Birds Rio for Android Available Exclusively in the Amazon Appstore—Free for a Limited Time

SEATTLE, March 22, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) – Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced the launch of the Amazon Appstore for Android at www.amazon.com/appstore.  Customers can now find, discover – test! – and buy Android apps using the convenient shopping experience that Amazon customers know and love.  An innovative new feature called “Test Drive” will enable customers to test apps on a simulated Android phone.  Customers control the app through their computer using a mouse.

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“Test Drive lets customers truly experience an app before they commit to buying.  It is a unique, new way to shop for apps,” says Paul Ryder, vice president of electronics for Amazon.com.  “Our customers have told us that the sheer number of apps available can make it hard to find apps that are high quality and relevant to them.  We’ve spent years developing innovative features that help customers discover relevant products.  By applying these features – plus new ones like Test Drive – we’re aiming to give customers a refreshing app shopping experience.”

In addition, the highly anticipated Angry Birds Rio for Android debuts today, exclusively in the Amazon Appstore.  For a limited time, customers have the opportunity to download it for free.  In fact, the Amazon Appstore will offer customers a paid app for free every day.

Customers can shop in the Amazon Appstore from any computer using a Web browser.  They can also access the Amazon Appstore directly on their Android phones or tablets, once they’ve installed the Amazon Appstore application.  When customers purchase an Android app from the Amazon Appstore they can use the app on any of their Android devices.

The Amazon Appstore will include popular Amazon features like personalized recommendations, customer reviews, and 1-Click payment options.  There will also be detailed product descriptions, including screenshots and video content that shows apps in action.  In order to ensure customers have the best possible experience with the apps they purchase, all apps are Amazon-tested before they’re made available in the Amazon Appstore.

For the first time ever on the Android platform, ad-free versions of Angry Birds and Angry Birds Seasons will launch today exclusively in the Amazon Appstore.  The Amazon Appstore also features a selection of bestselling and new apps from top developers, including Pac-Man, Doodle Jump Deluxe, Evernote, WeatherBug Elite, Zagat to Go, TweetCaster Pro and more.

“The Android platform’s openness provides a great opportunity to reach new customers,” said Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio, the maker of Angry Birds.  “We are thrilled to offer the Angry Birds suite of Android games using the easy and trusted shopping experience that Amazon is known for.”

Developed in conjunction with Twentieth Century Fox, Angry Birds Rio features the animated stars of the studio’s upcoming motion picture, RIO, debuting in theaters worldwide on April 15.  Angry Birds Rio will launch with 60 dedicated levels, with more content to follow via app updates.

Visit www.amazon.com/appstore today to get Angry Birds Rio for free and browse thousands of apps at great prices.

The long-awaited first iPhone game from Cartoon Network’s [adult swim] has finally made it on to the iTunes AppStore for the iPhone and iPod Touch running the 2.0 firmware. As with all things [adult swim], this game mixes the comedy world, the gross and bloody world and the imagination world all at your fingertips.

From the AppStore description:
“Amateur Surgeon from [adult swim] puts all of your wildest surgery fantasies in the palm of your unwashed, unqualified hand. Use precision instruments such as a pizza cutter, salad tongs, stapler, and a car battery to hack your way through thirty different procedures and be the surgeon that your parents always knew you would never become.”

Also, please take note of the warning that is posted with the game. I personally think this makes it a more enticing download, but perhaps that’s just my sick and twisted personality.

Rated 17+ for the following:
Frequent/Intense Mature/Suggestive Themes
Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes
Frequent/Intense Profanity or Crude Humor
Frequent/Intense Cartoon or Fantasy Violence
Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content or Nudity
Infrequent/Mild Realistic Violence
Infrequent/Mild Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References

At this time, Amateur Surgeon is only available to the United States market, but expect a wide release in the next few days.

Download and Preview: Click Here (opens in iTunes)

The iPhone 3G will not go on sale until tomorrow and version 2.0 software isn’t yet available for “old school” iPhones either. Apple has still decided to move forward and release iTunes 7.7 complete with a live AppStore. Look but don’t touch! Wait a minute? What’s that? Uh oh, it looks like original iPhone owners are in for a treat as we’ve just received word the the 2.0 firmware is now live and available for download. Well we received word and a download link, that is. If you’ve decided to hold on to your OG iPhone, for nostalgia’s sake perhaps, it’s your lucky day. Hit the read link before Apple’s servers get hosed and start enjoying all of that exchange-rocking, legal app-supporting goodness right away.

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