Apple App Store, Palm App Catalog, Blackberry App World, Android Marketplace — can you keep track of all the different on-device application storefronts already?

After a longish period of having just a few applications featured in their App Catalog, Palm is now accepting apps from the general developer population. Palm is initiating a beta e-commerce program scheduled to start in mid September.

Palm is following the Apple model closely : app prices start at free or 99 cents, and Palm gets a 30% cut of the selling price.

Meanwhile, RIM is moving on strong with their App World. They have just launched a web-based interface for App World, for easier browsing.  New smartphones from RIM like the Blackberry Curve 8520 have really gained attention of non-traditional BB users, so the App World could appeal to this new audience.

In the meantime, Apple is on a category of its own in the app business. Don’t forget that Apple has two different on-device stores on the iPhone and iPod touch : the App Store and the iTunes Store. iTunes still dominates the world of digital music, but it’s making waves in the entire industry as well. According to the NPD group, iTunes now accounts for 25% of all songs sold in the US. They still have some way to go before totally dominating the music industry though. Old-school CDs (remember them?) apparently still constitute 65% of all music sold.

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Filed under: Mobile News

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