How to use Google's new Android Market

Today at an event at its headquarters in Mountain View google launched a new look for its Android Market, Calif., including a long-missing and much-requested Web-based version. Available at http://market.android.com, the new marketplace features a robust search tool and allows users to install software directly from the Web. Having an Android device isn't required to access the new marketplace, although you obviously won't be able to install software without one. To get started, visit the market and log in using your Google account, the same as the one you use for your phone or tablet. You can browse software categories on the left, or filter by tabs showcasing featured apps, top paid apps, and top free apps. When the Market debuted earlier in the day, most people saw "invalid request" messages when attempting to log in. A tweet from the Android development account indicated that Google had begun working on the nagging problem, and by 12:15 p.m. PT most were able to log in successfully. It's not clear at this time whether the delay was caused by an overload of people attempting to access it at the same time, delays in syncing users' apps, or other unknown problems. One of the keys with the Market is to log in using the same account that's been associated with your mobile device, since your programs are synced directly to that Gmail account now. Once logged in, there's very little that's different to visually indicate that you've successfully logged in. You can tell, though, as the upper right corner of the Web page will show your e-mail address and a link to "My Market Account". Click it and you're taken to a My Orders tab that lists your entire installed apps. These are organized by date last updated, the name of the app, category, price, and status. Currently, these headings can only be sorted by date, although it looks like the kind of layout that will receive an update with more sort parameters in the future. A second tab labeled Settings currently shows only a list of the devices associated with your account. It shows Nickname, Visibility, Make, Model, Carrier, Last used, and Registered on date. Clicking the Edit button on the right lets the device is given by you a nickname, and choose whether to hide the device from Android menus. Users who have rooted their devices and are running custom ROMs will not see data for Make and Model. It appears that multiple, simultaneous account log-ins, a feature pushed to Gmail, are not supported.