T-Mobile became the first carrier to support additional payment options for the Android Market when they began rolling out an update last week. The new payment option allows users to purchase paid applications and bill them to their T-Mobile account. This means users no longer need a Google Checkout account or a credit card.
Many readers had reported receiving the new update, but most of them said the additional payment options were missing. We noticed T-Mobile had adjusted the completion date for the rollout to early January and were starting to think the carrier billing option was delayed.
We learned of the new Market update from a forums post which left many questions unanswered. I was curious if T-Mobile was going to publish a press release like they have done for other updates and wanted to know how parents would be allowed to moderate app purchases on their child’s phone. T-Mobile responded with the following.
T-Mobile does not plan on issuing a press release. Regarding Family Plans, T-Mobile Family plans offer parents the option to block certain content on their child’s phone, including access to the internet.T-Mobile USA
So according to T-Mobile, any supported phone that has a data plan is capable of purchasing application from the Android Market. This feature is still rolling out so we will have to wait and see how purchases appear on your monthly bill.
Thanks to one of our readers Nathan Schwiz, we were able to obtain some screens of the new Android Market. You can see below that the Downloads category was replaced by T-Mobile on the home screen. Pressing the button will take you to the new T-Mobile channel that is full of suggested applications (think T-Mobile AppPack, but now built in to the Market client). The Downloads section can now be accessed by pressing menu from any screen.
When purchasing an application, users can now choose between using Google Checkout or their T-Mobile account.
Please note that the new Market is only available on T-Mobile phones with Android 1.6 and is not currently available on the Motorola CLIQ or Samsung Behold II.
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Taylor Wimberly
Taylor is the founder of Android and Me. He loves playing with all kinds of gadgets, but most importantly cell phones. His other hobbies include cooking (BBQ hero!), politics, football, and watching every MMA event possible.
15 Comments
I have the first screenshot but not the option to bill to my t-mobile account.
The Droid on Verizon has this “Verizon” tab since it’s launch back last month. The Market app was already carrier-specific at that time.
Yeah, I second that…
Thanks for the update. I have played with a Droid, but I do not own one. I did not notice the new tab on its market.
As much as I like this new addition to the market with the billing, the new t-mobile section I don’t like but maybe that’s just because I’m not used to it. Generally so far the apps showcased in there are pretty meh at best….most of them coming from T-mobile is seems.
The market don’t work no more since the invisible update
In case you were wondering, the update is 100% unprompted, and is even going to rooted phones. I’m running CyanogenMod 4.2.8, and I went into the Market and saw it there.
The smiling message notification icon is part of CyanogenMod 4.2.8, ported from Eclair. I left it in the notification bar to prove it was indeed a rooted G1.
Screens: http://bit.ly/5KcXe5
http://bit.ly/6SA9F4
http://bit.ly/901r5S
I don’t like this, I trust t-mobile with it but giving carriers this much control over the market makes me scared of what verizon will do. I’m not saying they’ll raise app prices so that they can have a cut, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they buried the apps of individual developers while pushing their own overpriced apps.
all this seems to do is give people a place to go to get their carriers apps in one place.
id rather have the google check out process for apps. tmobile already has a place in the market its called app pack
Taylor, if this new ability to purchase apps through your T-Mobile bill creates an influx of inflated cell bills, as some blog comments have suggested elsewhere, I wanted to respond by adding a tip for seriously cutting your wireless costs; an intuitive but often realistically tough proposition. However, I work in the consumer advocacy division of the Houston-based company Validas, where we electronically audit and subsequently reduce the average cell bill by 22 percent through our website, http://www.fixmycellbill.com (and I’ll add that 22 percent equates to over $450 per year for the average user).
You can find out for free if fixmycellbill.com can modify your plan to better suit your individual needs by going to the website. Check out Validas in the media, most recently on Fox News at http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/consumer/conlaw/lower_cell_phone_bills_072409 .
Good luck to everyone reading on retaking control over your wireless expenses and potentially freeing up some extra cash this holiday season.
Dylan
Consumer Advocacy, Fixmycellbill.com
hey those screen grabs look familiar
I guess I should note that I was using cyanogenmod 4.2.8 as well when I got the update. Also, despite what the article says you still need a google checkout account, google just passes the bill to tmobile. I wonder if they give tmobile a percentage.