Comments on: Android Needs More European Love – App Explosion Should Help

By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:28:00 +0000

the app thing is really strange….i have a rooted phone and have no problem downloading paid apps from the market…i don’t get this ….tho is the percentage of phones rooted and pirating software so great that they will risk losing the entire european market over it….i know personally i don’t pirate software on my phone

this just seems very strange

what if i want to unlock my phone to say travel to europe will i then risk losing my ability to get paid apps…its just very odd behavior

By: AMZ

AMZ — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:26:23 +0000

Mads , agreed .
Now many countries have android phones , but they can’t buy apps , and in many cases they don’t even get the market in the android os !! , also there is the language problem where most of people doesn’t have their language in the android os , so google I give you 7 months to solve this problems , or I’m really just going back to the iphone where I wont get this problems .

By: Mads

Mads — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:54:03 +0000

Paid apps for everyone, in all contries! This should really be a priority.

By: Mensahwatts

Mensahwatts — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:43:50 +0000

I think that as I have stated before- Android will be above all soon just look at how they have grown. And look at how they work to fix problems with there phones…it is only a matter of time before Google wins all around the world with Android

By: Luffy

Luffy — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:38:44 +0000

The problem in Europe is that people simply don’t know what android is…. Here in the UK advertising is everything and all we ever get are those bloody iphone and blackberry adverts!!!!

Seriously though, there is a massive market here that is being missed and before too long everyone will be tied into contracts on blackberry and iphone and there won’t be anything left. The solution is simple, people don’t know what to buy unless you show them…..

By: Dennis

Dennis — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:02:03 +0000

@Martin
Yeah not sure what they are trying to say here.. Just a short time ago, we in the US had only the G1 and myTouch, and waited and waited for more HTC phones like the Hero, which took it’s sweet time getting here because HTC couldn’t make enough phones fast enough.. and were behind because they had backorders to fill for Europe, which has been enjoying Android for quite awhile.. I think this is wishful speculation by “otherphone” fanboys who ignore history and want to rewrite it in some desperate attempt to justify their “otherphone” purchase.. It doesn’t seem to match what really happened.. In fact, it is my opinion that the success in Europe is what led to carriers taking a bigger chance on Android here in the US.. You like Apples ? .. how about them Apples ? (Shameless rip-off from Good Will Hunting)

By: Tom Robson

Tom Robson — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 09:30:26 +0000

@Johnny Awkward,

Yes, we’re sure: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Android+Market/thread?tid=084e9487e0314217&hl=en

It looks like they implemented a ‘clever’ way of stopping rooted / developer devices getting access to the market (why is it important to stop people who rooter THEIR phone from buying apps exactly… but I digress) and the knock on effect is that each SIM free model needs to be manually whitelisted in order to gain access to most paid apps in the market. There doesn’t seem to be a proper process for doing this whitelisting and the Market people are sitting with their fingers in their ears pretending not to notice.

FWIW, people have been complaining about this since July 2009 with non-rooted, retail phones purchased in Europe.

IT DOESN’T MATTER HOW MANY APPS ARE ON THE MARKET IF PEOPLE WITH UNLOCKED / SIM-FREE PHONES CAN’T BUY THEM.

By: Furret

Furret — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 09:11:29 +0000

No wonder why this is… Google is focused with his key new features (Voice, navigation etc.) on and only on American market. Furthermore, some of western european countries still does not have non-root payd market.

By: Talton "Phases" Pettigrew

Talton "Phases" Pettigrew — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:52:26 +0000

Sharon: Hello! Yes.. The article referenced and linked to on the app explosion portion very much says that. In fact, they round up to 20k.

By: Johnny Awkward

Johnny Awkward — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:44:32 +0000

Are we sure that SIM-unlocked phones don’t have access to the Market? Or are people confusing SIM-unlocked phones with the dev phone and rooted phones?

By: SharonW

SharonW — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:23:31 +0000

Hello?!?! I have yet to see anyone publish these statistics. I still see mainstream media quoting the old “10,000 apps” compared with 100,000 Apple apps. Nobody does any homework anymore, they just regurgitate what they’ve read. The number of Android apps is already exploding. Over 18,000 now. That’s just about double what there were at the beginning of Sept.

http://www.androlib.com/appstats.aspx

Three months, folks. They’ve doubled in 3 months!

By: erth

erth — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 07:48:44 +0000

Open the paid app store! ‘Nuff said.

By: fupa

fupa — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:42:18 +0000

“Looks like everything that needs to be said is said…Because I am one of those unlocked milstoners (writing right now on it)…the restriction in the market for unlocked phones is just crap…comon google is this open develeopment or not?”

exactly. I think that if windows mobile wasnt so ugly slow and shitty, they would beat android because they are a true open source/free market OS. you get the OS and the phone, and like a laptop can do anything you want with it. not this waiting around for your carrier to permit you to do things that run perfectly on other phones. why 1.5, 1.6, and 2.0. how about 2.0 for everyone. free market! its our phones!

By: hEh

hEh — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:18:29 +0000

Xperia X10 is the phone for me. I’m just waiting. From the latest videos it looks ready to be released. I hope the default UI has no framerate issues (ie, NOTHING on the phone results in a low frame rate). I hate it when scrolling from one screen to another is jerky. Always at least 30 fps to be in the green!

By: Martin

Martin — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 00:46:04 +0000

Well we’ve got more Android handsets here in Germany than they have in the USA.

I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of my Acer Liquid next week… can’t wait…