Developers, Start Your Engines! Android Market Now Accepting Paid Apps

The Android Developers Blog calmly announced today that the Android Market is accepting applications that end users will have to pay for. If you've been waiting to make a dime or two off of the Android platform, now is your chance.The iPhone Apps Store offered paid apps from day one. In the three months that the Android Market has been up and running, all of the applications have been available for free. Google didn't quite have the back-end systems up and rarin' to go. Now it does.

Android Mobile Platform developer Andrew Chu said, "I'm pleased to announce that Android Market is now accepting priced applications from U.S. and U.K. developers. Developers from these countries can ... upload their application(s) along with end user pricing for the apps. Initially, priced applications will be available to end users in the U.S. starting mid next week. We will add end user support for additional countries in the coming months."

In order to pay for applications, users will need to use Google Checkout. App developers will need to set up accounts in Google Checkout, as well, if they want to be paid.

To date, the Android Market hasn't seen quite the explosion in applications that the iPhone Apps Store has. At last count, it was up to something unwieldy, like 20,000 applications.

The new availability of paid apps probably means we'll see a surge in the number of applications available to Android users, as developers have likely prepared apps already and have only been waiting for the billing mechanisms to fall into place.

Now they are there. Have at it.