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Android Market gets updated with support for paid apps in mid-January

30 December 2008 by Staff Editor


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Google has finally come around and decided to update the Android Market for developers. Google sent out an email to one of our users stating that they have been working on “several significant updates” to the Android Market.  First off Android Market will become available to users to download apps in more European and Asian countries starting early in the first quarter of 2009.

Some of these countries include Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and the Netherlands.  In mid January Google will update the Android Market publisher website in order to enable country targeting. They also confirm that priced applications will be available at the same time (early January). Apparently the payment support from country to country is not very easy to setup.

The priced applications will be starting in the United States and the UK, following the initial launch Germany, Austria and Netherlands will have paid apps and France, Italy and Spain will have them by the end of the first quarter. The Android Market website also gives applications a second channel of exposure other than the handset itself. Below is a copy of the attached letter.

Hello,

Thank you for your participation in Android Market!

Since we launched a couple months ago, the team has been working on
several significant updates to Android Market. I’d like to let you know
about these upcoming changes and what they will mean to you and other
members of our developer community.

Many of you have asked about international expansion plans. I’m happy to
inform you that Android Market will become available to users to download
apps in additional European countries starting early Q1 2009. Some of the
countries we will initially support are Germany, Austria, Czech Republic
and the Netherlands. As we add support for additional countries in Europe
and Asia, we will send out subsequent notifications to you. In
mid-January, we will update the Android Market publisher website to enable
country targeting. Please start thinking about which countries you want to
target and begin preparing your products accordingly (e.g.,
localization). Note that your apps will not become available in these new
countries unless you specifically select them in the publisher website,
after we update it.

Additionally, I would like to confirm that Android Market will support
priced applications starting early Q1 2009, as we’d originally stated last
fall. Given the country-by-country work required to set up payment support
for developers in different countries, we will enable priced app support
in Q1 for developers operating in these countries in the following order:
(1) United States and UK; (2) Germany, Austria and Netherlands; (3)
France, Italy and Spain. By the end of Q1 2009, we will announce support
for developers operating in additional countries. Developers operating in
the above listed countries should begin finalizing their priced
applications, including determining the appropriate pricing strategy.

Finally, please note that our team may need to occasionally contact you
via email or the publisher website to collect necessary product
information (such as screenshots and descriptions). This information would
be used for the Android Market website, found at
http://market.android.com, which gives applications a second channel of
exposure via the web in addition to the normal on-device access.

We will send out additional details on all these items in the coming
weeks. Thanks for your support, and we look forward to continue working
with you on Android Market.

Eric Chu,
Android Market

Google, Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043

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  1. Can't wait!! We have cupcake on the way and new apps in the market coming!! yay!
  2. Now with need the ability to install apps on SD cards. Come on Google.
  3. have they said how you'll have to pay for it?
  4. How do they pay over at AT&T, Pay Pal/Credit Card ?
  5. itunes account
  6. they dont... MWAHAHAHAH xD
  7. Google will use their PayPal rip-off Google Checkout. Makes the most sense and will promote that service.
  8. yes!, id gladly pay so that i could put a million apps on my SD card, developers get this done!

    and whats the deal with the phone not being able to read some sd cards, i have 4 diff cards and it only reads my 2gig and my 1 gig, meanwhile the 8 gig and the 4 cant b read even tho i can see them on my ps3...??

    anyhow, when are we getting that "FLASH PLAYER"
  9. Hopefully you will get a free trial (maybe locked down?!?!) version of all apps you pay so you get a "try before you buy" setup.

    Would make sense to the Google checkout service as Android is all about using Google services (and of course the whole open source aspect of it)

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TheJuan View Post
    yes!, id gladly pay so that i could put a million apps on my SD card, developers get this done!

    and whats the deal with the phone not being able to read some sd cards, i have 4 diff cards and it only reads my 2gig and my 1 gig, meanwhile the 8 gig and the 4 cant b read even tho i can see them on my ps3...??

    anyhow, when are we getting that "FLASH PLAYER"
    Talk to Adobe.
  10. Where in the e-mail did it say "mid-january"? I only saw "early Q1" which could encompass a month and a half of time. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
  11. Quote:
    Originally Posted by GasBot View Post
    Where in the e-mail did it say "mid-january"? I only saw "early Q1" which could encompass a month and a half of time. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
    I was confused by all the time frames, but I though the US/UK pay system was implied to begin January 15 or early Q1.
  12. So the free apps we have now we might be charged for later. That's bull bc I have no apps worth paying for.
  13. Quote:
    Originally Posted by TheJuan View Post
    yes!, id gladly pay so that i could put a million apps on my SD card, developers get this done!

    and whats the deal with the phone not being able to read some sd cards, i have 4 diff cards and it only reads my 2gig and my 1 gig, meanwhile the 8 gig and the 4 cant b read even tho i can see them on my ps3...??

    anyhow, when are we getting that "FLASH PLAYER"
    supposedly microsoft is anouncing flash will be out for windows mobile by march I would predict the android version around the same time.
  14. Quote:
    Originally Posted by jrokwitdacapitals18 View Post
    So the free apps we have now we might be charged for later. That's bull bc I have no apps worth paying for.
    Ya know . . . sometimes silence is golden.
  15. Quote:
    Originally Posted by rynosaur View Post
    Ya know . . . sometimes silence is golden.
    Can we pay though credit cards or does the apps get charged on bill. We better have options.
  16. Quote:
    Originally Posted by jrokwitdacapitals18 View Post
    Can we pay though credit cards or does the apps get charged on bill. We better have options.
    We're assuming it's gonna be with Google Checkout, so whatever payment options exist with Google Checkout will allow you to buy Android proggies.
  17. I am all for it! I have no issues paying for good apps, but I agree with Smalls, in hoping there are trial versions... I can't tell you how many free apps I have installed and uninstalled in the span of 5 minutes... that could get costly, LOL.

    I use Google checkout for a lot of stuff, and its a snap... would be great if this were the payment option.
  18. This is great, but again, where are we going to put the apps? My phone gave me a memory error when I installed two SlovoEd dictionaries. (I have only 19 apps). I just worry that T-Mo is going to balk at letting us use the SD card for install for fear users will yank out the SD card and cause problems.
  19. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Smalls View Post
    Hopefully you will get a free trial (maybe locked down?!?!) version of all apps you pay so you get a "try before you buy" setup.

    Would make sense to the Google checkout service as Android is all about using Google services (and of course the whole open source aspect of it)



    Talk to Adobe.

    good idea with the trials, didnt think about that.
  20. Quote:
    So the free apps we have now we might be charged for later. That's bull bc I have no apps worth paying for.
    Well then you will have lots of space on your G1 for other things then eh. If you have no apps worth paying for then

    a) Why do you give a rats ass if they go pay for, since they are all apparently crap
    b) Noone is forcing you to pay for them

    Jumped up little tossers like yourself need a swift kick in the head and a heavy dose of reality.
  21. As a few have pointed out, this is all pointless without the ability to store apps on SD cards. In my opinion this is the single most critical issue and it appears that it will continue to be ignored. I can no longer download anything without uninstalling something else that I want.
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