Google's Android Market is getting payment options for wireless carriers, the company said July 23. This will allow consumers to buy applications from the Android Market and charge them to their wireless bills.
Google's Android team indicated it is preparing to allow consumers
to purchase applications from the Android Market and charge them to
their wireless phone bills, a major convenience that bridges the gap
between the application store and phone service providers.
Android developer evangelist
Tim Bray wrote in a brief blog post July
23 that Google has updated the Android Market Developer Distribution
Agreement (DDA) to prepare "for some work we're doing on introducing
new payment options, which we think developers will like."
Specifically, "authorized carriers" have been added as an indemnified party in section 13.1.
T-Mobile, which offered the first Android phone nearly two years ago,
already processes payments
for Android apps on users' monthly bills. This means users don't have
to whip out their credit cards to pay for the apps before they can
download them.
Bray wasn't specific about what additional carriers will support this payment plan.
However, Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint all provide several
high-end Android smartphones, so it makes sense that all providers be
on board to help users procure the 70,000-plus applications in the
Android Market as efficiently as possible.
These new terms apply straight away to anyone joining the Android
Market as a new publisher. Existing publishers have been notified of
this change via e-mail and have up to 30 days to accept the new terms.
Jonathan Rosenberg, Google's senior vice president of product management, alluded to
new billing and payment options in the company's
second-quarter earnings call July 15.
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