Amazon.com conducted more than $1 billion in sales through its mobile channel last year. Not bad, considering that the company has barely made an effort until now.

“To be very honest, the company as a whole hasn’t been trying really hard,” said Ameesh Paleja, director of mobile services at Amazon.com. In remarks at the Amazon Technology Open House Tuesday night in Seattle, Paleja pledged that the indifference about mobile is going to change in the coming months and years.

“Almost every group in the company has some sort of mobile strategy. And we are going to see some really innovative and interesting products coming out over the next 6, 9, 12, 18 months,” he said.

Those remarks were echoed by Jeff Bezos at the company’s annual meeting earlier this week in which he said that the rise of smartphones and tablets will be a “huge tailwind for Amazon in our retail business.”

The company obviously is making a big bet on mobile. One of the more high-profile areas where it is spending time is the newly-launched Appstore for Android, an online marketplace of more than 10,000 apps from companies such as PopCap Games, RealNetworks and Rovio.

Paleja said that it can be a “crap shoot” for developers trying to sell into the Google Marketplace and Apple App Store — in part because it is just so hard to discover new applications that matter.

“If you are not getting into the top 25 or the ‘just in,’ it is very hard for you guys to get recognized by customers,” said Paleja, adding that Amazon’s goal is to provide more “concrete ways for developers to get in front of customers.” It can be challenging to market apps on a three inch or four inch screen, but Paleja says that Amazon.com has some advantages over other app marketplaces.

One of those is the billing and commerce aspect of online retailing, something it obviously has experience in. “We have 137 million customers. We have a wonderful check-out process. You combine those two in the mobile space, and you come up with a really easy, friction-free check-out mechanism,” he said.

One way that the company is attracting customers is through its “Free App of the Day” promotion (Today, it is Random Mahjong Pro).

Bezos also referenced this program at the annual shareholders’ meeting, noting that “free paid app of the day” is now his favorite oxymoron.

By taking a premium app and making it free for one day, Paleja noted that it not only exposes new apps to customers. But it also provides an overall “lift” to that app maker’s sales, though he declined to say what sort of sales increases developers are experiencing.

“There is a halo effect behind the actual day that they are promoted,” he said.

In a product demo, Paleja also showed off a new feature of the App Store for Android called “Test Drive.”

“It feels a little bit like magic every time I see this work,” said Paleja.

Essentially, it allows customers to play test versions of games and other mobile applications in their browser as it would run on their phone. About a third of the 10,000 apps in the App Store for Android are available in Test Drive mode, allowing customers to try before they buy.

What’s next for the App Store for Android?

Paleja said there’s been so much demand from an international audience, and Amazon.com hasn’t been able to meet those needs to date. International customers are “vehemently upset with us” that they can’t shop with us in the app store, he said.

“I’ve never been in a category where people are pounding on the doors, saying: ‘I want to be able to use your service.’ So, obviously, we are a big international company and we are excited about providing services to all of our customers, so we are working on it.”

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