Back at the end of August, Verticool (makers of AndyPad) confirmed to us that the AndyPad would indeed have access to the Android Market. We thought it odd that Verticool didn’t appear to be advertising this fact on their AndyPad website and it seems there was good reason why.
Access to the official Android Market is a boon for any Android device as it means the device can take advantage of some of the core Android applications, such as Gmail, YouTube, Maps, etc, and download hundreds of thousands more through the Market.
On Tuesday, the Marketing Director of Verticool, Andrew Kerry, made a post on the official AndyPad forums with some revealing information about the whole Android Market situation.
The bottom line at the moment is that the first production run of the AndyPad does have a working copy of the Android Market, but it hasn’t been licensed, which technically means it doesn’t have Google’s approval. Google Apps are also installed on the initial batch and are fully functioning, according to an owner of the AndyPad.
Kerry says that Verticool went through the standard process to secure licensing for the Android Marketplace, but it soon became apparent that the “Android Marketplace is tied up with ‘Big Brands’ who have strangled the market, making customers choose their products over smaller brands such as Andy Pad.” He also goes on to say that “There is a David and Goliath situation here and we felt highly let down by Google.” Curiously, Kerry said that Google is not processing any more Market licenses while they are busy working on the next big update to Android, Ice Cream Sandwich.
Kerry claims that the company intentionally didn’t mention the Android Market in their official advertisements, which seem to be true for the most part, but there apparently was mention of it from the AndyPad twitter account, and they told us directly that the device would feature Android Market access so obviously the blame can’t be put completely on Google.
It’s unclear whether or not Verticool will continue installing the Android Market on further productions. I suppose it’s possible that Google approves the license and things work out, but they could also officially ask that the Market be removed from the devices and not put on any others.
Kerry says that the company is looking to include the Amazon App Store on the AndyPad at some point in the future, but it is currently only available in the US, making it useless at the moment to the UK based Verticool.
Now we’re just waiting to see how Googliath will respond to David.
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