The Android Market has just gotten an interesting rival with Amazon’s Appstore Developer Portal targeting Android developers to submit their applications to Amazon’s soon-to-be-launched Appstore. The launch date of the Appstore itself is still unknown, but the niche portal will provide another interface for Android users to seek supporting apps, with Amazon ultimately helping to rope in developer support for the Android platform.

“The sheer number of apps available today makes it hard for customers to find high-quality, relevant products – and developers similarly struggle to get their apps noticed,” says Amazon’s Appstore Team. “Amazon’s innovative marketing and merchandising features are designed to help customers find and discover relevant products from our vast selection, and we’re excited to apply those capabilities to the apps market segment.”

“Our customers also have a strong interest in mobile, and across the company we are working hard to make our great products and services available on mobile devices,” the team adds. “We continue to innovate the mobile shopping experience with the Amazon Shopping app, Amazon Price Check and the recently launched Windowshop for the iPad. We have numerous Kindle apps, and customers can shop our MP3 store from their mobile devices. Our subsidiaries like IMDB and Audible also have robust mobile applications. An Appstore is a logical next step for Amazon in mobile.”

Amazon claims that their app store will improve customers’ experience with high-quality, relevant products while giving applications more visibility. Its existing marketing and merchandising features applied in this manner only enhance Amazon’s long-term mobile goals, extending its products and services to a wide consumer base, personalized for their individual use. Furthermore, Amazon has cited reasons why it is good for developers to submit their apps to the Amazon’s Developer Portal, namely:

-For the first time, you will have access to tens of millions of active Amazon customers.
-Amazon’s proven marketing and merchandising features will help you get your apps discovered and in front of the right customers.
-The convenience of using an existing Amazon.com account will make it simple and easy for customers to purchase your apps – both online and on their mobile devices.

Several other recent dealings of Amazon includes the availability of Amazon’s free “Buy Once, Read Everywhere” to Windows Phone 7, making it the first major eBook application on for the OS. There’s also a release of a version of Twitter with minimal stylings making it ideal for Kindle and is now branded as Kindle Twit. Also, just like a traditional library, Kindle now supports the loaning of books, a feature that’s relatively novel for the market.