Android News

Sometimes you take the little things for granted. T-Mobile users, for instance, have grown used to the carrier billing option in the Android Market. While users on other networks must pass through Google Checkout in order to download paid apps, T-Mobile users can do so with just a few clicks. It makes impulse buying that much easier. Soon — possibly within a month — other carriers will get this ability. As Tim Bray at the Android Development Blog relays, there has been a change to the Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement which basically paves the way for more carriers to add direct billing for the Market.

Reading on my Android has become one of the greatest features of the device. I’m actually working up a nice, long series about the pleasures of reading on the Nexus One, and I’m glad that Barnes & Noble released their Nook application before I finished it. The article figures to be a multi-parter, but I wanted to get the Nook application in there on the first shot. It’s that good a reading app.

Last week, and even before, it was impossible to ignore the hubbub over the iPhone 4’s issues. It would drop calls thanks to a poorly place antenna. When Apple tried to downplay the issue, people seemed offended. This is natural. Apple released a much-hyped product and it featured a pretty major shortcoming. Steve Jobs tried to deflect criticism, as is his wont, by showing that other similar smartphones fall victim to the same issue. That, expectedly, didn’t go over well.

Old-time industries have continued to falter when adapting to new technological realities. This seems to play most prominently in the publishing and music industries. Their business models have been upended by the web, and while they continue to exert their power, that will only last so long. With new, cheaper ways to enjoy media we’re going to see a change in how they’re consumed. Rdio seems to be on the right track.