Google Checkout has been the only payment option available in Android Market for quite some time and though it's been a wonderful conduit to make payments for applications, it's always better for developers, users, and Google to offer more options. Therefore, Google is going to be offering more payment options to purchase applications in Android Market. One option detailed will be to add purchases directly to your monthly carrier bill (which could actually be a bad thing).
The new payment options are said to be a part of an effort to make Android less 'Google-centric'. Which makes sense, having non-Google options definitely lessen Google's grips over Android and will hopefully get more users to download applications in Android Market, which means more developers will develop for Android, which means Android becomes even more successful. All great things in our book.
And though we'll probably stick with our Google Checkout method for purchasing applications in Android Market, it'll definitely be worthwhile to see what the other options are, if only for the sake of seeing them. Hey, Android is all about the options, right?
[cnet]
