13
Apr
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Android Market Carrier Billing Now On Sprint, Do You Have It Yet?

Posted by in Android OS, Apps/Games, News, Sprint

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.

12
Apr
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[Let's Discuss] How's This For A Paid Game/App Model? Play For 10 Hours And Permanently Disable All Ads ("180" From Headcase Games)

Posted by in Applications, Apps/Games, Editorials, News

Paid app models have always been fascinating to me - I've even had a TODO sitting around in my post ideas list to explore various methods of distributing software without inundating users too much. Pro features, time trials, disabling ads for money, in-app key unlocks, lite versions, paid-only ones without trials - these are all on the list and all have their pluses and minuses.

This new idea, however, is so radical, brilliant, and crazy compared to the rest that I think it might just work, and I'd like to run it by you to see if I'm not alone. Headcase Games' new action-puzzle game "180" has 2 versions, just like you would expect - a free one with ads and a $1.99 one without.

28
Mar
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The Pros And Cons Of The Amazon App Store: A Promising Market Replacement?

Posted by in App Reviews, Applications, Editorials, News, Other Reviews, Reviews
Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

On March 22nd, the long awaited Amazon Appstore was released, bringing a whole new way to find, install, and share apps on Android. After its initial debut, we decided that this new Appstore was the real deal. In this post, we'll break down what Amazon's done right, and what it still needs to improve on.

Pros

1. Better descriptions and more in-depth comments

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Most users will tell you that finding good Android apps is not an easy task. If you're browsing the Android Market looking for something specific, then the only bit of information that you have to work with is what the developer wants to say (which usually isn’t much) and one-line-comments from other users.

15
Feb
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Android Intervention, Part 4 of 4: The Android Market - A Work In Progress?

Posted by in Editorials

Uhoh, he's at it again. No, I'm not going to make this a rant that is hugely controversial or upsetting. Seemingly contrary to what I write sometimes, I love Android. And anyone who loves Android can agree: the Android Market kinda-sorta sucks sometimes.

Whoa there, let me qualify that - some aspects of the Market are less than fantastic, and I think every Android user has come to realize this. In fact, I doubt it's a stretch to say that the Market's shortcomings are the single biggest reason Android hasn't eaten the iPhone for breakfast in terms of critical acclaim.

08
Feb
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Official RealVNC Viewer For Android Hits The Market - And It Doesn't Come Cheap

Posted by in Applications, News

Ok, so it's not that expensive, but $10 (5.99GBP)? Seems a little pricey for a remote viewer client (though LogMeIn will run you $30, by comparison), especially considering RealVNC's "Personal Edition" desktop software costs 30 bucks. Fear not, because there is a free version of the RealVNC software for Windows, and while it lacks a lot of the nifty features the full Personal Edition has, the Android viewer client doesn't support most of them anyway.

If you want a completely free Android VNC experience, I suggest TightVNC for PC or Chicken of the VNC for OS X, combined with the equally free android-vnc-viewer (though you'll probably spend a little more time configuring them).

22
Dec
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Carrier Billing Comes To Android Market On AT&T - Creates Audible Drop In The Paid App Bucket

Posted by in Apps/Games, AT&T, News

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.

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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.

07
Oct
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PayPal Payment May Be Coming To The Android Market

Posted by in Apps/Games, News

According to news website TheStreet, Google may be finally relenting on the Google Checkout-only system currently employed in the Android Market by letting PayPal in on the action. This is a facility that users have demanded for some time, and the ubiquity and convenience of PayPal payment should be a nice incentive for people to buy apps if they have not done so before. TheStreet also speculates that this new payment option may be the final piece of the puzzle in the long-awaited Google Music project, allowing for seamless payment from your device or PC. An announcement at PayPal's October 26th conference in San Francisco is expected to unveil this new partnership.

05
Oct
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[Updated] Google Starting To Flip The Switch On Purchasing Paid Android Market Apps In New Countries

Posted by in Applications, Apps/Games, Games, News

Last week, Google announced that over the next 2 weeks, support for purchasing paid apps was coming to 18 more countries: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, and Taiwan.

This morning, reports are trickling in that the switch has been indeed flipped, at least in some of these countries. So far, we've been able to confirm Sweden, Denmark, and India. Tightly coupled with today's rollout is a Market update that converts all application prices to buyers' native currencies.

In case you were wondering why the Danish and Swedish currencies are the same, I did some research and found out that "ca." means "approximately," and both Swedish and Danish currencies are shortened as "kr" - Swedish krona and Danish kroner or krone.

28
Sep
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Distimo May Know What New Countries Are Getting Paid Android Market Support

Posted by in Apps/Games, News

On Saturday, Google revealed that they are planning on bringing access to paid applications to more countries, but didn't actually reveal which countries they have in mind. Enter Distimo (their name may sound familiar thanks to their App Store analytics reports), who thinks they may have a clue as to what countries are on Google's list.

The way they came up with their guesses? They noticed a number of new countries where paid apps have been added to the Market:

  • Argentina
  • Belgium
  • Brazil
  • Finland
  • Hong Kong
  • Israel
  • Mexico
  • Poland
  • Romania
  • Russia
  • Slovakia
  • Singapore
  • South Africa

They're not sure if people can actually purchase the apps yet, and they point out that the list may be incomplete (or inaccurate).

25
Sep
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Google Set To Expand Paid Android Market App Support Beyond Current Tally Of 14 Countries

Posted by in Apps/Games, News

Those of you following the official @AndroidDev account on twitter may have spotted a cryptic tweet sent out yesterday, urging developers to check their e-mail inboxes. Contained within was an e-mail with some exciting news: Google will be bringing access to paid applications to more countries. The when and the where have still yet to be determined, but Ireland bleedin' better be one of those countries.

Considering the fact that the Android Market is currently available in a pitiful 14 countries, listed below, any increase will make for a dramatic improvement. However, when you look at how many countries the iTunes App Store is available in (90), there is still a lot of ground to be made before catching the Apple juggernaut.

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