Using an idea that wasn’t his, an Android developer created an application dubbed I Am Richer. The application costs $200 and does nothing more than showing probably another person who is checking out your smartphone that you are rich enough to afford throwing money on useless things or probably it reminds you that you are rich.

A similar application was developed for the iPhone App Store, but Apple banned it shortly after release, citing user complaints. It was only sold to eight people who paid the staggering sum of $1,000 for an application that practically does nothing. All the difference the I Am Rich application did on the iPhone was to load a red icon as a screensaver onto the home screen, with the subtext "I Am Rich."

The $200 I Am Richer Android application does pretty much the same thing. The only difference is the color, which in this case is blue.

However, another big difference is that the Android I Am Richer application won’t be banned, because, unlike Apple, Google decided not to interfere and lets the market decide what is successful and what is not.

An important thing: the I Am Richer application for Android did something more than its predecessor. It illustrated some key differences between the Google Android Market and Apple’s App Store.

I Am Richer is the most expensive application so far on the Google Android Market where most applications sell for about $2. The application’s developer will probably make some money by selling it either to rich folks searching for new ways to show off or to people who thing the application actually does something that’s worth the $200.