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Android Market to be Updated for Extra European Localization

Categories: Android, Developer
By: , IntoMobile
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 at 2:27 PM

An e-mail recently went out to Android application developers involved with the Market detailing some updates coming mid-January.

Many of you have asked about international expansion plans. I’m happy to inform you that Android Market will become available to users to download apps in additional European countries starting early Q1 2009. Some of the countries we will initially support are Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and the Netherlands. As we add support for additional countries in Europe and Asia, we will send out subsequent notifications to you. In mid-January, we will update the Android Market publisher website to enable country targeting. Please start thinking about which countries you want to target and begin preparing your products accordingly (e.g., localization). Note that your apps will not become available in these new countries unless you specifically select them in the publisher website, after we update it.

Great news for all of those Android handsets… in… Europe? Wait, does Europe have any Android phones? The HKC Pearl is landing in Asia, Qigi’s got one in the works for China, Australia has the Kogan Agora, but what about Europe? Okay, the UK has the G1, but is that really it? Maybe this letter portents a big European push in Q1 ’09. Some would certainly agree…

[via TalkAndroid]

About The Author

Simon Sage

Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.