Google launches support for paid Android apps
Google announced Friday that developers will soon be able to sell applications through the Android Market, and developers will receive 70 percent of the revenue from app sales—the rest will go to the carriers.
The Android Market is the primary distribution channel for Android applications. It is tightly integrated with the platform and provides users with an easy way to obtain new software over the air. Google publicly opened the Android Market when the G1 handset was released last year, but it initially carried a limited assortment of applications and offered no way for developers to sell their wares. Everything in the Market is currently a free download, but this hasn't stopped apps from appearing at a respectable pace.
The new support for priced applications opens the door to commercial software vendors who want to sell programs to Android users, and this could help to expand the availability of third-party software for Google's nascent Linux-based mobile platform. According to Google's Eric Chu, who posted the announcement in the official Android Developers blog, payment processing will be handled by Google Checkout. Developers will be able to set prices ranging from $0.99 to $200.
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