Google Labs Developing Android IDE to Bridge the App Gap

In an effort to help Google's Android smartphone OS play catch up in the all-important app race with Apple's iPhone, Google Labs is set to launch a new Android app development environment, "App Inventor." The development environment boasts a web-based, drag-and-drop architecture built with the intent to make app development possible for a whole new set of users. It also allows developers to use the native functionality of the hardware; for example, a developer could use the phone's sensors to allow a user to tilt a ball through a maze. Interestingly, the App Inventor platform is built on open source tools, and Google hopes that amateur developers will likewise begin sharing "building blocks" of code to help each other develop apps more quickly and easily.

It remains to be seen whether developer tools will have a significant impact in the app war, but the development community is notorious for wanting to use the latest and greatest toys, and the Android platform has already generated significant interest in a short time since its launch. Unfortunately, the network effects inherent in the app market make it possible that Apple may relegate Android to a niche market in much the same way that Microsoft did to Apple in the desktop OS market.