Without giving any detailed information, Madfinger Games announced that because the piracy rates of their game Dead Trigger were so high on Android, they made the game available for free. This sucks balls. I'm interested in more detailed statistics, especially where, exactly, the piracy rate is highest, considering you can only get paid Google Play applications in 31 countries, and then, often only with a credit card (which many people outside of the US don't have and/or use). It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if those piracy rates mostly come from places without paid applications support and/or with lousy payment options. In any case, Google needs to get its act together with the Play Store.
To view parent comment, click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2008-03-17
Personally I've never had issues. I just set payment to 100% and never spend over my limits.
These days there are also other kinds of credit cards. Here in Portugal we have MBnet which is like a virtual credit card for online shopping. You set a limit and whatever you buy gets taken out of your account like a debit card. It is recognized internationally as a credit card and works well.
You can also get pre-paid (I imagine it is only used for travelling).
But either way I like having a safety net. Sure I pay for it, but you never know when you're going to have an emergency.
Member since:2010-04-08
Member since:2009-03-27
Not sure why I've never read this yet when credit cards get debated here, but the big reason why many (maybe most?) Americans use credit cards is because credit card companies offer cash back bonuses. Most people that I know pay their balance off in full every month, but we end up saving money with 1%-5% cash back or by earning frequent flier miles. It makes me feel silly when I pay $3 for milk with a credit card, but hey, I'm getting money back, so why not? Most credit cards do not charge a fee for using/having them, and if you pay your balance off in full within a month you pay no interest whatsoever. Also, debit cards here often charge a small ($0.25) transaction fee. In other words, it has nothing whatsoever to do with a cultural difference.
Of course, for all that money that the companies lose on their cash back bonuses, they more than make up for in fees and those times when someone gets desperate and puts down an important payment on a high interest credit card...
Edited 2012-07-24 06:01 UTC
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.The day has finally come: Google has started shipping Google Glass to the lucky few early adopters. Now that it's shipping, Google has also unveiled a lot more about the API and the specifications of the device itself. While the company had already given out substantial details at earlier occasions, there are still a few surprises here.
Almost exactly three years ago, I wrote about why OSNews was no longer OSNews: the alternative operating system scene had died, and OSNews, too, had to go with the times and move towards reporting on a new wave of operating systems - mobile, and all the repercussions that the explosion of smartphones and tablets have caused. Still, I was wondering something today: why aren't we seeing alternative operating systems on mobile?
Member since:
2005-06-29
You are aware you can just ask your bank for one ?
A credit card costs money. On top of that, it's a cultural thing. A least here in The Netherlands, credit cards carry a stigma, because they're associated with spending money you don't have and getting into serious financial trouble. People are actually afraid of them, and would rather not own one. As far as payment methods go, credit cards are pretty damn expensive.
With a debit card you spend the money you actually own. That seems like a small difference, but it's actually a huge conceptual shift.
Edited 2012-07-23 14:29 UTC