Apple and their iOS powered iPhone/ iPad are Google’s very successful competition and they are constantly trying to keep a leg up on the competition. Google may have a clear advantage point with their latest announcement. It all has to do with the cloud and how Google plans to use it with Android and Honeycomb 3.0 to tie everything together with the use of a Google account.
If multiple devices are set up with the same Google account there is a new syncing method that will allow you to have all of the Apps you purchase on your Android powered phones and tablet to be easily synced on both devices. The goal is to make it more worthwhile to purchase and download apps as you will have access to them with all of your mobile products. Additionally this will attract you to more Android power devices as you can sync and out of the box have access to your Android games, applications and settings.
All of these new features tie into the just released browser-based version of the Android Market Place which allows you to download apps directly to your device from any computer over the air. This change also means that when you download an app it is downloaded to your account which is your personal cloud for all things Google and not a single device. Your new app can then be sent to a single device or multiple devices you have attached to your account seamlessly and instantly.
This is a very different approach than the system Apple currently has in place within their iOS ecosystem. The Apple app store downloads apps directly to your desktop and then you have to keep track of them and put them on each of your devices on your own. As opposed to the cloud which means you always have access to your apps as long as you have an internet connection.
It would seem obvious that this feature is in place as more devices are being announced that use either OS but that is not the case and is what gives Google the major advantage. You always have access to not only your apps but your specific settings from any computer and instantly on any new dive that you purchase. Gone is the hassle of setting up a new device app by app and setting by setting and this is how it should be.
Source: Android Community