16
May
play
Last Updated: August 23rd, 2012

Two weeks ago, Google announced a series of expansions to carrier billing options for Play Store Apps, Movies, Books, and Music on various carriers. While some changes went into effect immediately, Sprint, which already allowed direct billing for apps, was one carrier that was listed as "coming soon."

As of today, all three additional options are available to Sprint customers: books, music, and movies. Not surprisingly, carrier billing is the default option since it's by far the cheapest to carriers and Google as they get to bypass credit card fees. While this addition doesn't benefit everyone, I can see a few handy uses for carrier billing:

  • you don't own a credit card at all
  • you don't want to add a credit card to your Wallet account for some reason, be it security, paranoia, or a medical condition that prevents you from typing 16 digits in a row (also known as laziness)
  • you don't want to pollute your credit card statement with multiple charges
  • you don't want your significant others with access to your credit card statement to see what you're doing

Enjoy, Sprinters!

01
Nov
20110224233315!Android_Market

Update: Looks like MachineWorks listened -- Duke Nukem 3D is now ad-free.

Earlier today, a somewhat anticipated game went live in the Android Market - Duke Nukem 3D. We covered the release and the news that it was on the way. But reviews of the app on the Market are painting a picture of a less than satisfied customer base, because of a couple key pieces of information that Machineworks Northwest left out of the app description.

First, the game is ad-supported - but it still costs $1 to purchase. The ads cannot be disabled. Now, I'm perfectly OK with developers making paid apps that also have in-app ads, that's a business decision, not a philosophical debate.

13
Apr
sprint-logo

Well, seems like Google wasn't lying when they said they would continue to work on providing carrier billing as a payment option in the Android Market, announcing the addition of the feature to Sprint handsets, alongside T-Mobile and AT&T. With three out of four major US carriers down, will carrier billing be coming to Verizon any time soon?

The feature has long been the request of many customers across all carriers, particularly internationally. This is largely due to the fact that Google Checkout remains unavailable as a payment option in a number of major international markets in South America and Asia, where Android's popularity is rapidly growing.

29
Mar

"Great news, everyone!" Last week, Google launched the new in-app billing capability of the Android Market into private beta testing, promising a public release this week, if all went well. Apparently, all did go well, as the company today opened this most-exciting feature to everyone. To be fair, iOS users have been enjoying in-app billing in the App Store since 2009, so Google's move is quite a bit late (don't make me bring up the whole copy-paste thing to balance the argument!).

Want to buy a new downloadable level or music track in your favorite game? No problem - as long as the developer implemented /in-app billing, you'll be able to charge it straight to your card via the usual Google Checkout procedure.

24
Mar
in-app-bill-paying-android-600x489

February 2nd was an exciting day for Android fans - we were given an in-depth preview of Honeycomb, laid our eyes on some stunning 3D tablet games, and were even treated to a much-anticipated online version of the Android Market. But 2/2/2011 was also the fateful day that spelled "doom" for lite / demo versions of Android apps, as Google unveiled their new in-app billing system.

Today, Google made another announcement regarding in-app purchases: the feature will launch publicly next week. In addition, developers can now upload apps utilizing the service to the Android Market Developer Console, though said applications won't be published until next week.

22
Dec
alt

That's right, carrier billing is now available for some Android users on the least Android-friendly wireless carrier in the US. Huzzah. I guess I shouldn't be so cynical - I am an AT&T customer, after all. Unfortunately, I also run CyanogenMod 6 on my AT&T Nexus One, and have not yet received any Market update to allow me to use carrier billing, and doubt I will until an official Gingerbread build coaxes me off my custom ROM goodness.

alt

The Android Developers blog has stated the carrier billing option will roll out to phones as part of the larger Market update that has been floating around in ZIP form for a couple of weeks - but it remains entirely unclear what phones or versions of Android will be eligible.

13
Sep
verizon_wireless_sucks

  

Well, Verizon is up to their old tricks again. Last time they did something worthy of a head-scratch was just a short time ago, when they forced Bing onto the Fascinate and abandoned the built-in Google bits and pieces for search.

Now they've decided that, in addition to Google Maps, Google Search, and Google Voice Search not being necessary, the Android MARKET is insufficient. Introducing the Vcast App Store!

V-Cast-App-Store-Verizon-Exclusive-Apps-Store11

Verizon seems to think that they are somehow more likely to persuade users to buy apps. While there may be some advantages (carrier billing being the only one i can think of), it is really starting to look like Verizon hates Google.

26
Jul
Android_Market

In a short post on the Android developers blog, Googler Tim Bray let word out that the Android Market’s Developer Distribution Agreement had been updated in a significant way:

Posted by Tim Bray on 23 July 2010 at 5:24 PM

Please note that we have updated the Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement (DDA). This is in preparation for some work we’re doing on introducing new payment options, which we think developers will like.

In the spirit of transparency, we wanted to highlight the changes:

  • In Section 13.1, “authorized carriers” have been added as an indemnified party.

  • Section 13.2 is new in its entirety, covering indemnity for payment processors for claims related to tax accrual.

02
Jun
zong-android-billing

As a developer myself, one issue with the Android market has always been the payment methods…or rather, the lack thereof. Aside from Google Checkout and carrier billing for some companies within the US, there really aren’t a whole lot of options to consider, especially when dealing with the Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement.

Well, as with all things in the world of technology, a company seems to have found a bit of a loophole in regards to carrier billing for developers, or more specifically, integrating it into their applications and games. This has a lot of implications, including a big one: countries without access to paid apps and games on the Android market could still purchase them through free demos released by the developer.