Amazon, Google partner for mobile music store

Google’s first branded handset is still several weeks away from hitting the market, but it is already expected to give Apple a run for its money in the entertainment department, with a recent announcement that Amazon.com’s MP3 store will come pre-loaded on each Android phone.

T-Mobile G1 owners will be able to search, buy and play music from Amazon MP3, whose songs are DRM-free and thus able to be loaded onto multiple devices. Unlike the mobile iTunes store, however, downloading music to the G1 phone requires a Wi-Fi connection, whereas searching and listening to samples can be done through the T-Mobile network.

While the G1 is probably not mature enough to outperform the iPhone yet, the Android platform certainly shows huge early promise. This latest announcement is just another step in the right direction for Android to become relevant in the smartphone market.