Amazon Appstore Now Lets You Try Out Apps Via the Cloud [Amazon]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5912233/amazon-appstore-now-lets-you-try-out-apps-via-the-cloud

Here's a neat little feature in the latest release of Amazon's Appstore for Android: you can now try out apps on your phone, instantly via the cloud, before you choose to buy them.

While Amazon has offered that feature—called Test Drive—on desktops before, this is the first time they've rolled it out on mobile devices. The feature is available in the latest version of Amazon Appstore, release-2.6.53, which is available today.

The apps are served from the cloud, and the trial runs inside the Amazon app itself. Apparently the feature is only available on "select" Android devices, though there's no word at the moment on exactly which ones they are. Amazon explains how to use the service:

"Customers click the "Test Drive" button on an app product page and in seconds, they can use their phone's touch screen and accelerometer to control the app, simulating the experience of the app running on their phone. Test Drive provides customers with the experience of running an app for the first time, as if it were freshly installed. Customers can purchase or download the app at any point during the Test Drive experience.

"The Test Drive beta is available for free to customers who update to the latest release of Amazon Appstore for Android on their phone (version 2.6.53 or higher). Initially, Test Drive will be available on select phone models but over the coming months, we will roll it out to many more. When new phone models are supported, the Test Drive button will automatically appear on apps that are enabled for Test Drive. "

It's a neat little idea, but a shame that it's only rolling out to certain phones. Let us know if it works for you. [DroidLife via Engadget]