Andriod Market Set To Offer In-App Purchasing Functionality To Developers
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_7413.shtml
Mar 25, 2011, 12:09 by John Steele
In the epic battle for smartphone supremacy, there have been a lot of shots across the bow by competitors Apple and Google. The most noticeable knock on Android is a weakness in the architecture for developing applications. Apple alleges Android is not as developer-friendly, as it lacks the ability to add in-app purchases, like upgrades or additional levels. But that may be about to change.
According to techie web publication Digital Trends, Android official Eric Chu announced on the Android Developers blog “back in January we announced our plan to introduce Android Market In-app Billing this quarter. We’re pleased to let you know that we will be launching In-app Billing next week.”
Assuming that first-quarter release plan is still a go, Google will launch these new features no later than next Thursday. For now, developer testing has officially launched. Chu writes, “You can now upload your apps to the Developer Console, create a catalog of in-app products, and set prices for them. You can then set up accounts to test in-app purchases.”
This announcement is especially beneficial to mobile game producers, who can now offer links to other games, level upgrades and access to special tokens.
As the battle between Google and iPhone rages on, heads of Google’s Android operating system have been leveling heavy criticisms, the latest of which is that Android has been tested faster than iPhone, a claim Apple vehemently rejects.
Blaze Consulting conducted a test of Google Chrome against the iPhone 4 Safari operating system. Blaze concluded that Google was over 50 percent faster in page loads. Several in the industry, as well as Apple officials, have called out the efficacy of the study, saying that the testers used a third-party web viewer to test Safari.
Despite this latest development, it appears the battle for supremacy will rage on.
Source: Digital Trends
