Google’s Android Market is criticized for spam, piracy and inadequate security, but there is another big issue that is hindering the application store’s growth.

That snafu is paid applications, or the lack thereof in Android Market. Android developers can sell apps to consumers through Android Market in only 13 countries.

Read More www.eweek.com

Remember the old Avis car-rental slogan? “We’re Number 2. We try harder.”

That slogan came to mind when a reader, an iPhone app developer, wrote to let me know how hard Google, maker of Android, the No. 2 app phone software, is trying to woo iPhone programmers to write their apps for Android phones instead.

Read More pogue.blogs.nytimes.com

France-based engine developer Stonetrip announced that its ShiVa 3D engine has added support for the Android platform. Licensees now have access to a beta version of the authoring tool in the weeks leading up to an upcoming commercial release.

Read More www.gamasutra.com

With a few taps on his cell phone, Grand Valley State University student Greg Zavitz can look up anybody at the school, view detailed maps and even watch someone ordering a latte on the Pew Campus — all with a mobile application he helped design.

Read More www.mlive.com

To all those companies and developers focused exclusively on iPhone apps: Watch your back. The Android platform is catching up, and none too slowly.

As Android’s growth continues to explode since the release of the Droid, only the most foolish of app shops are not planning to expand beyond Apple’s walled garden. One developer, in fact, wrote that his app, which was showing modest, double-digit daily sales late last year, now reports that his app is making $13,000 a month.

Read More www.readwriteweb.com

iVdopia (http://www.ivdopia.com), the advanced mobile advertising platform and network, today announced the release of its Android SDK, which enables developers using Google’s Android platform to include the most innovative and comprehensive video advertising formats within their applications. Following its successful iPhone campaigns for the likes of Coke Zero, Warner Brothers and Miller Lite, iVdopia is now introducing social features, sponsorship and “instant-play” video to Android mobile ads. iVdopia is also inviting the open-Android community to propose and suggest their own creative video ad formats, for incorporation into the next release of the iVdopia platform.

Read More www.prnewswire.com

I pinched and zoomed the Google Maps images on my Nexus One smartphone this morning, the same pinch-and-zoom feature that iPhone (and iPod Touch) owners have been using for some time.

The pinch-and-zoom experience on the Nexus One, which was unlocked with an OS update released yesterday, was nice. It wasn’t one of those write-home-to-mom, earth-shattering experiences - but it was nice.

Read More blogs.zdnet.com

Glyph Language Services, a Seattle company, has launched a limited time offer to localize mobile games and applications for free. New clients can receive localization and emulator testing services for one Android or iPhone app in one target language.

Read More www.androidguys.com