From being a platform with no in-app payment systems, Android is now enjoying an explosion of options, with Zong offering up another carrier-based one click SDK for the OS.

Zong, which began life helping media firms monetise their mobile operations, has launched a private beta of its carrier billing set-up for Android.

Much like Boku's Paymo, Zong allows developers to embed the software in the game or app itself, letting users pay for virtual items in game via their mobile phone bills.

Upping Android

No registration is needed and no card details need to be entered, with Zong CEO David Marcus claiming its ease of use will help keep development on Android on a level playing field with iPhone.

"Mobile developers have customarily focused on the iPhone because it has been difficult to monetise applications on Android," he said.

"But now with over 100,000 new Android handsets activated daily, the market opportunity is growing rapidly and with an easy payment tool, developers will now be able to easily generate revenue from that market."

Converging on carrier billing

Boku recently announced a similar set-up, with carrier billing increasingly being pitched as the simplest way of generating in-app sales without losing the user along the way.

However, unlike Boku, Zong also allows users to pay with their credit or debit cards if they so choose.

The combination of payment options, Zong chief executive David Marcus believes, could encourage more and more studios to be drawn to Android.

"This could enable Zynga to build a mobile Farmville with virtual transactions built into the application with a few lines of code." Marcus told the New York Times, adding that he believes Android will surpass iPhone in market share over the next five years.

"We would love to be on the iPhone," he concluded. "But because of Apple's terms of service we just can't do in-app transactions."

Developers looking to take part in Zong's private beta are advised to register with the company on its website.

You can see how it works in the following video. 



[source: The New York Times]