With almost no fanfare, Google has added 13 new countries to the line up of territories that support paid apps on the Android Market.

Spotted by Distimo, the new markets consist of Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Finland, Hong Kong, Israel, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Singapore and South Africa, bringing the full tally to 27, when combined with those already on the paid roster.

Such territories aren't newcomers to the Android Market fold, however. Rather, they've simply been upgraded.

Google's marketplace now operates in 48 countries in total, although the other 21 are still restricted to the store's line up of free titles.

To play or not to play

Still the current situation remains somewhat confused.

Although these new 13 nations now have access to the details of paid apps on Android Market, Distimo isn't sure whether users can actually buy them, mainly because developers don't yet seem to have been given the option to select the new territories as distribution options. 

"It is not completely clear if Google has enabled consumers to actually purchase apps from the Market already," co-founder Vincent Hoogsteder says on the firm's blog.

"When publishing a paid application, Android Market still lists the 14 countries where paid content was already available. This is likely to change very soon."

Still, it's another small move in the right direction, and something Google will have to speed up if it expects the Android Market to compete with other emerging mobile distribution channels, especially those being offered by carriers. 

[source: Distimo]