14 DAY TRIAL // Mobile phone operator T-Mobile has started recently the roll-out of a new software update for its users that own an Android-based device, one that will offer them the possibility to enjoy carrier billing with the Android Market. The company was rumored before to plan making the move and, starting last week, it began the update process.
“Beginning December 9th, customers on post-paid accounts with devices running Android 1.6, such as the T-Mobile G1 and T-Mobile myTouch 3G, will begin to receive an update to the Android Market application to allow for purchases to be charged directly to their T-Mobile account. This allows customers to purchase paid applications without entering credit card information,” T-Mobile states on a post on its forums.
At the same time, the company unveiled a series of additional details on the new update, including the fact that users do not need to do something specific to benefit from it. “The Market application update will be invisible to you,” the carrier notes. The results of the new update are not expected to be visible in the very near future to all users, yet the update should be rolled out to all T-Mobile Android subscribers “by early January 2010 or earlier,” it seems.
Basically, the new move T-Mobile makes is meant at offering its customers the possibility to purchase applications from the app store and to pay for them on their T-Mobile phone bill, without the need of entering their credit card information. Moreover, those who download an application, install it and then remove it from their devices within 24 hours won't be charged for it, the carrier notes.
For the time being, the owners of Android-based Motorola CLIQ and Samsung Behold II, which run under the 1.5 flavor of Google's operating system, will still have to use Google Checkout for billing. In addition, it seems that there are further details regarding the new carrier billing option that haven't been set clear yet, but T-Mobile is expected to announce more in the near future.