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Paid Market Apps in Canada

GreatBigDog

GreatBigDog

Android Enthusiast
I was under the impression that the reason that we didn't have access to paid market apps in Canada was because Google Checkout wasn't available. Well on a whim today, I decided to check out Google Checkout (pardon the pun) for myself. I was surprised to find that I had no problem setting up an account with a Canadian address. It actually has TOS for Canada in English and French.

Now this begs the question, what else could be holding up the paid apps in the Canadian market. Anybody have any ideas????

gbd
 
Like what gnugu said, a little push from the cellphone provider may change something. I don't think bilingual is a problem since France is on the list. One possibility like what i read on other forum is how the transaction is going to be handled.
 
I too have a google checkout account. Why not use the system on PayPal for example. I don't know what to do, but all I want is the ability to access all applications.
 
As far as this battle goes, we may not have much luck. It's one thing to take on Rogers over Android 1.6, but another completely to take on Google over access to paid apps in Canada.
 
this would be another good battle to start once we get them to address the 1.6-2.0 updates problem......

we need to start our own allinace on behalf of the customers for the rogers android phones.....this google market stuff could be another huge battle considering bell, telus and rogers all have these same problems.
 
Andy2010 said:
Like what gnugu said, a little push from the cellphone provider may change something. I don't think bilingual is a problem since France is on the list. One possibility like what i read on other forum is how the transaction is going to be handled.
Click to expand...

France is a unilingual country like Quebec is a unilingual province. Canada is a bilingual country so we have to have everything in French AND English even though everything in Quebec is only in French.
 
I highly doubt the issue is technical in nature. To me, this smells like another bureaucratic/legal/business related problem.
 
In the end Rogers probably wants a share of the revenue from Google. Knowing Rogers, I would not be surprised if this were the case.
 
Does anyone know if apple shares revenue with the carrier when aps are purchased through their store? As far as I know Rogers hasn't restricted what aps can be purchased for the iphones on their network.
 
I think its only split between Apple and the developer (30/70 I think). It doesn't make sense to me for the carrier to get a cut of app sales. The only hand they have in anything is that their network is used to download the apps, but I pay for that use monthly.
 
zortoflaven said:
It doesn't make sense to me for the carrier to get a cut of app sales. The only hand they have in anything is that their network is used to download the apps, but I pay for that use monthly.
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Agreed. If anything the app is going to drive additional network use which presumably means increased monthly billing.
 
I went to download an app on my g1 but this warning stuff popped up and I had no idea what it was all about. Is it safe to install these apps?
 
I also am waiting on several fronts before i upgrade my phone to a android device:

1. The release of the Sony X10 (Q2 I think)
2. The Magic Updates to 2.1 (Mid year?)
3. Paid apps in Canada (?)
4. A Better Android Phone by Rogers. One that doesn't cost a lot and has 2.1 on it (HA)
 
I still believe that it is because of google checkout issues in canada. If you look, although you can sign up as a consumer, you cannot set up a canadian account as a merchant. You need a merchant account to sell apps on the market and my assumption is that the CRTC isn't going to allow the introduction of a paid media market unless Canadians are allowed to participate on the selling end as well as the purchasing end.
 
This is crazy that we don't have this hear yet.....i think it uis time to get some awareness to this issue.....
 
@mjschmidt

Sorry it interrupt your little war in the other threads (just kidding). You've said in other threads that you heard rumors that paid apps were coming with the milestone (feb 18th as of the latest rumors/maybe official). Do you remember where you heard these rumors or have you or anyone else heard anything else?
 
Akkuzo said:
@mjschmidt

Sorry it interrupt your little war in the other threads (just kidding). You've said in other threads that you heard rumors that paid apps were coming with the milestone (feb 18th as of the latest rumors/maybe official). Do you remember where you heard these rumors or have you or anyone else heard anything else?
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No, so I can't really say for sure. I have also read in a number of places people suggesting that it is because we don't have any actual google-branded phones in Canada yet, and that might be the reason.

If I happen to see anything concrete, I will certainly post it.

As for flame wars, I don't mind them. I have no delusions about being able to change the minds of others, and name-calling doesn't bother me because I don't care, and it does not diminish my argument to be called a name. ;-) So, I ignore the trolls unless I need to correct something that is misleading. :-)
 
mjschmidt said:
I have also read in a number of places people suggesting that it is because we don't have any actual google-branded phones in Canada yet, and that might be the reason.
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That's interesting...

I looked around and all of the countries with paid apps do seem to have Google branded phones. Ireland only has the HTC Hero (not google) and doesn't have paid apps. In Australia, Vodophone (googel branded devices) customers have access to paid apps and Opus (no google branded doevices) customers don't have access to paid apps.
 
Well,

I just sent an e-mail to Google as follows:

Good afternoon,

I am inquiring into the reasoning behind not currently having an Android Marketplace in Canada carrying paid applications.

My current mobile provider is Rogers Wireless. I, along with many other Android "fanatics", are very disappointed that we cannot fully utilize the potential of our Android devices. After attempting to open communication channels with Rogers Wireless, we have been unable to obtain a reason why we cannot access this marketplace. This is why I have chosen to contact you.

I have entrusted Google for many years to provide excellent service and products globally. This Android paid marked unavailability has really deterred many users in Canada towards the Apple iPhone products as their choice of applications is much more vast. I am very much pro-android, and as such, want to refer all customers to Android devices as their mobile preference.

I fully intend on approaching Rogers Wireless to have the Android Marketplace fully supported and carried. In order to do this, I would greatly appreciate further details on what is currently preventing the service from being offered to Rogers Wireless customers.

I look forward to hearing back from you. Thank you for your time.

Regards,
Bryan
Android Enthusiast.
Click to expand...

Hopefully I will receive a reply.
 
With the release of the milestone by Telus does this mean more apps for canadian android users? The phone companies seem to be pushing the app stores, but if you still can't get the selection of apps you want the question becomes why bother buying a phone that has only limited access to apps?

Does anyone remember if apple had the same problem when they released the iphone here in canada? Did they have to wait months or years before they had a good selection of apps to choose from?

Maybe its a kind of "natural" selection for "us" that live in the great white north called Canada, that we have to wait awhile for 3 party technology to become available to us.
 
opus904 said:
With the release of the milestone by Telus does this mean more apps for canadian android users? The phone companies seem to be pushing the app stores, but if you still can't get the selection of apps you want the question becomes why bother buying a phone that has only limited access to apps?

Does anyone remember if apple had the same problem when they released the iphone here in canada? Did they have to wait months or years before they had a good selection of apps to choose from?

Maybe its a kind of "natural" selection for "us" that live in the great white north called Canada, that we have to wait awhile for 3 party technology to become available to us.
Click to expand...

Or it could just be since we don't have any "Open Handset Alliance" members in Canada and none of the carriers here offer "Google Experience" phones that Google is taking their sweet time to get to us.
 
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