If You Prick Me Do I Not... Leak?

Does anyone know:

1. Which is the latest and more importantly best Cyanogen(mod) to be running?

2. Is it possible to run more than just WPA on an android or is that OS bound as far as setting up tethering?

It's the new Android phone with unlimited Data!

I like it.

That's too much Data.

Another Android Advantage!

Yay! Open-ness!

Google threatening app developers with removal from the Android Market if they don't switch their payment systems to Google Wallet.

Quote
John Willoughby
Yay! Open-ness!

Google threatening app developers with removal from the Android Market if they don't switch their payment systems to Google Wallet.

Wow. Cluelessness abounds. From the article:

Quote

Apple's iOS platform generates higher conversion rates mainly because the company required developers to use its own payment system from day one, according to Hooper [CEO, Zipline Games] and others.

They seem to think purchase process friction is the dominant reason Android purchases don't compete with iOS.

I'm sure it plays a small role, but app quality and market demographics have a far larger stake in the process, IMO.

I just like how the whole payment system is getting torqued in Google's direction, and to Google's profit, in this effort for "frictionless" purchases. Surely an unintended byproduct of the decision...

There are a few things that seem to be missing/misleading from that story:

Android Market... err... Google Play Store isn't the only place to sell Android Apps. There are several others including Amazon and GetJar... and you can sell directly if you want.

The requirement to use Google Wallet for in-app purchases doesn't apply to "portable" content like music, eBooks, videos, or streaming subscriptions.

The article says, "Developers using Google Wallet typically have to pay Google a 30 percent cut of revenue from purchases - higher than the cut taken by rival third-party payment services." This is misleading, mainly because it's an Apples-to-Oranges situation. It's like comparing Visa to Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart's gross margins are 26% but Visa only takes 3%.

Google Wallet itself is pretty much on-par with other payment processors. The 30% cut is specific to the Google Play Store. .. and even then, it's not Google getting the cash: "Developers will get 70% of the revenue from each purchase; the remaining amount goes to carriers and billing settlement fees—Google does not take a percentage."

I accept the last point, sorry for my error.

I know that the Android Market/Whatever-the-hell-it-is-today isn't the only place to sell an app. It doesn't change the fact that Google seems to be throwing its weight around in a way that I would not expect from an open system. And in a way that I imagine some of "its" developers resent. Sure, they can go elsewhere, but isn't the Android app sales point scene a little crowded already?

The fact that in-app purchases may be handled by another processor only serves to muddy the waters further. I buy an app and have to use Google wallet, but then the content for it goes through PayPal (or whatever). Confusing to customers, so pressure exists for developers to unify payment... under Google Wallet.

I don't understand why it's Apples-to-Oranges to say that my having to give PayPal a 15% cut [made up percentage] when they handle my app sale is less than my having to give Google Wallet 30% for an otherwise-identical sale. I know that I am missing something here; if you get a chance, CS, let me know what I am not understanding.

[EDIT]

I guess my reason for derision of all of this is that Google, to make Android a more unified, credible platform is moving in a lot of little ways towards the methods Apple uses.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2012 02:37PM by John Willoughby.

I'm saying that it's Apples-to-Oranges because the 30% cut has nothing to do with the fact that Google Wallet is the payment processor. Google Wallet can be used for all sorts of transactions that don't have anything to do with apps. It is, essentially, a PayPal clone.

The 30% cut is taken at the Android Market level and is not analogous to the transaction fees charged by a payment processor. It would be more accurate to compare it to a retail store that expects to make a certain level of margin on the products they sell.

Another way to look at is is in the context of the Sears/Discover Card situation in the late 80s/early 90s. Even though Sears owned Discover, you could use the Discover Card to pay for products and services at all kinds of places. The transaction fees Discover charged its merchants were roughly on par with those of Visa, MasterCard and other credit card companies. If you wanted to buy something at Sears, though, you didn't have the option of using a Visa card. They only accepted Discover. If the item you bought was priced at $100 and Sears cost on that item was $70, they made 30% margin. It has nothing to do with the fact that they wouldn't let you pay for that item with a Visa Card.

I understand that it's not exactly the same situation with in-app purchases because those involve separate transactions after the initial sale... that would be like Sears selling you a lawn mower and then requiring that you buy all of your oil and gas from a Sears store as well. Whether that's right or wrong is an entirely different debate and is part of the reason I won't buy an iOS device anymore. With an Android device, I am not required to buy all of my applications and content through Google.

I understand now, thanks for elucidating.

Default e-mail signature for the new Samsung phone:

"Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S™ II Skyrocket™, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone."


It really just flows, doesn't it?

Make sure you articulate the "tm"s. Do they articulate in Oz?

ddt

I would say that it should be a marketing axiom that if your product name requires more than one (TM) symbol, you need a new product name. Also, if your default e-mail signature requires even one (TM), you need a new default e-mail signature.

Amazon's gunning for the iPad. $50/year for 4G LTE. Only 250 MB a month, though, so don't stream any movies on LTE.

The state of WebOS on Android.

We have WebOS phone. Very acceptable.

Buy an Android app from Google Play, give your contact info and current location to the developer. Call this a security flaw and Google will refuse to comment, but will pressure your publisher to downplay your article.