Google Releases Android Market For Desktop Browsers
Following last week's announcement of the Android 3.0 Preview SDK,
Google today announced the Android Market Web store.
Starting today, Google have extended Android Market client from
mobile devices to every desktop. Anyone can now find and share
applications from their favorite browser. Once users select an
application they want, it will automatically be downloaded to their
Android-powered devices over-the-air.
Android Market on the Web dramatically the discoverability of
applications through suggestion-guided searching, deep linking,
social sharing, and other merchandising features.
Google is releasing the initial version of Android Market on the Web in English and will be extending it to other languages in the weeks ahead.
The Android Market on the Web is available at http://market.android.com/
Android Market lets users sell applications in 32 buyer countries around the world. Google is also introducing today Buyer's Currency to give usersmore control over how they price their products across those countries. This feature lets users price their applications differently in each market and also shows prices in their home currencies.
Google will be rolling out Buyer's Currency in stages, starting with developers in the U.S. and reaching developers in other countries shortly after. Google anticipates it will take approximately four months to complete this process.
Today also marks the arrival of the In-app Billing on Android Market. This new service gives developers more ways to monetize their applications through new billing models including try-and-buy, virtual goods, upgrades, and more.
The In-app Billing service manages billing transactions between apps and users, providing a consistent purchasing experience with familiar forms of payment across all apps. At the same time, it gives users full control over how their digital goods are purchased and tracked. Users can let Android Market manage and track the purchases for them or they can integrate with their own back-end service to verify and track purchases in the way that's best for their app.
In-app Billing will be launching in stages. Beginning today, Google is providing detailed documentation and a sample application to help users get familiar with the service. Over the next few weeks Google will be rolling out updates to the Android Market client that will enable users to test against the In-app Billing service. Before the end of this quarter, the service will be live for users.
The announcement of the store came at a media event for a new version of Android. Called Honeycomb, the free, open-source operating system is geared toward tablet computers, which are growing more popular amid Apple's launch of the iPad last April.
Google showed off a Honeycomb version of its Android operating system that will debut on the upcoming Motorola Xoom tablet.
Disney Mobile general manager Bart Decrem said the US entertainment powerhouse had held off bringing its hit "Tap Tap Revenge" music game to Android devices until songs could be sold to players.
Tap Tap Revenge was one of three Disney games for Android unveiled by Decrem at the Google event.
The slew of applications for Honeycomb demonstrated after the presentation included interactive software to link tablet users to CNN news stories, images and video.
The Honeycomb event took place on the same day that News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch unveiled "The Daily," a digital newspaper created exclusively for the iPad.
The Daily will be sold through Apple's App Store and iTunes and cost 99 cents a week or $39.99 a year.
Android Market on the Web dramatically the discoverability of
applications through suggestion-guided searching, deep linking,
social sharing, and other merchandising features.
Google is releasing the initial version of Android Market on the Web in English and will be extending it to other languages in the weeks ahead.
The Android Market on the Web is available at http://market.android.com/
Android Market lets users sell applications in 32 buyer countries around the world. Google is also introducing today Buyer's Currency to give usersmore control over how they price their products across those countries. This feature lets users price their applications differently in each market and also shows prices in their home currencies.
Google will be rolling out Buyer's Currency in stages, starting with developers in the U.S. and reaching developers in other countries shortly after. Google anticipates it will take approximately four months to complete this process.
Today also marks the arrival of the In-app Billing on Android Market. This new service gives developers more ways to monetize their applications through new billing models including try-and-buy, virtual goods, upgrades, and more.
The In-app Billing service manages billing transactions between apps and users, providing a consistent purchasing experience with familiar forms of payment across all apps. At the same time, it gives users full control over how their digital goods are purchased and tracked. Users can let Android Market manage and track the purchases for them or they can integrate with their own back-end service to verify and track purchases in the way that's best for their app.
In-app Billing will be launching in stages. Beginning today, Google is providing detailed documentation and a sample application to help users get familiar with the service. Over the next few weeks Google will be rolling out updates to the Android Market client that will enable users to test against the In-app Billing service. Before the end of this quarter, the service will be live for users.
The announcement of the store came at a media event for a new version of Android. Called Honeycomb, the free, open-source operating system is geared toward tablet computers, which are growing more popular amid Apple's launch of the iPad last April.
Google showed off a Honeycomb version of its Android operating system that will debut on the upcoming Motorola Xoom tablet.
Disney Mobile general manager Bart Decrem said the US entertainment powerhouse had held off bringing its hit "Tap Tap Revenge" music game to Android devices until songs could be sold to players.
Tap Tap Revenge was one of three Disney games for Android unveiled by Decrem at the Google event.
The slew of applications for Honeycomb demonstrated after the presentation included interactive software to link tablet users to CNN news stories, images and video.
The Honeycomb event took place on the same day that News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch unveiled "The Daily," a digital newspaper created exclusively for the iPad.
The Daily will be sold through Apple's App Store and iTunes and cost 99 cents a week or $39.99 a year.
