Home Weekly Wrap-up: Does the Android Brand Make You Think of Google?

Weekly Wrap-up: Does the Android Brand Make You Think of Google?

The Android Marketplace is rebranded as Google Play. All of this and more in the ReadWriteWeb Weekly Wrap-up.

After the jump you’ll find more of this week’s top news stories on some of the key topics that are shaping the Web – Location, App Stores and Real-Time Web – plus highlights from some of our six channels. Read on for more.

For Google, to Play Is to Fight the Commoditization of Android

When you think of Android, do you think of Google? No, probably not. Android as a brand conjures up associations with the little green robot, the sound of your phone’s Droid tone, Motorola, Samsung and even Verizon, but rarely Google. For that reason, Google has rebranded the Android Marketplace as Google Play. Is it too little too late or is it a smart move to lessen brand dilution? Dan Rowinski takes a look at the reasons for the rebrand and its hope for success in this week’s top story, For Google, to Play Is to Fight the Commoditization of Android.

From our readers:

Jay GodseAndroid is not a strong enough brand to do what it needs to do for Google. It is valuable to developers as a technology brand. It is valuable to handset makers and carriers as a customer attraction brand. It is valuable to consumers as a place to buy apps for Android phones,i.e. a commerce brand.

In the long run, Android cannot be all three things. The weakest brand facet of Android is the commerce brand, so it is a good decision to separate it from the technology and customer attraction brands in the form of Google Play.

Personally, I don’t think that the name “Google Play” captures the right value proposition to customers of the Android marketplace. “Google Market” might have been a better choice. However, at least the brand is separate from the technology and customer-attraction brand facets of Android.

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I Quit Path

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10 AirPlay-Ready iPad Apps That Make Apple TV Worth It

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The Unspoken Etiquette of Facebook Photo Tagging

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Google Is Now a Graphing Calculator

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New Ways to Do Disaster Recovery Using Virtualization

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How to Jailbreak According to chpwn

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The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech industry for major developments, new product launches, AI breakthroughs, video game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to staff writers or freelance contributors with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

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