Across 11 countries, Samsung Apps offers operator billing

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There are a number of ways to pay for your must have apps on your Android device.  Well Samsung Apps has decided to offer another option called, operator billing. If you’re not completely familiar with the term here is a brief decription of the benefits of the service:

A direct connection to the operator billing platform requires integration with the operator, but provides a number of benefits:

1. Simplicity – the operators already have a billing relationship with the consumers, the payment will be added to their bill.
2. Instantaneous payments giving the highest customer satisfaction
3. Accurate responses showing success and reasons for failure (no money for example)
4. Security to protect payment details and consumer identity
5. Best conversion rates from a single click-to-buy and no need to enter any further payment details.
6. Reduced customer support costs for merchants since customers will complain to the operator.

[source wikipedia]

It may be hard to believe, but many people are still extremely wary of adding their credit card to an online service for purchasing product. Well, this operator billing will put to rest those fears, at least when it comes down to purchasing apps in Samsung Apps. So, as you start to warm up to this type of  app purchasing, you also can be assured that you’re credit card info will not be at risk, as the billing will go directly to your mobile carrier account.
The rollout of operator billing will occur in phases to the various countries. Some of which are, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Ukraine, Vietnam, India, Thailand and Indonesia.
Samsung is doing what they can to make this an enticing new program. So, to kick off the new service, they have set up Buy Hot Apps and Get Cool Gadgets offers. This involves being a Samsung Wave user, and you’ll be able to enter to win prizes as you use the operator billing. If you take advantage of this service, let us know what you think of it, and how it works for you in the comments below.

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Gingerbread Acer Iconia Smart Launches In India

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The word is Acer has now launched the Acer Iconia Smart smartphone over in India, an Android handset with a 4.8-inch HXGA touch screen, and although Acer announced the device they haven’t yet announced any pricing.
According to an article over on Igyaan, Acer did deliver the specifications for the Acer Iconia Smart though and the device is said to pack a 1GHz Snapragon processor, 8GB internal memory, an 8 megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash and 720p HD video recording and a 2 megapixel front facing camera.
Other specs of the Acer Iconia Smart are the handset runs the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system, Acer user interface 4.2, 3G, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, WiFi, AGPS, Dolby Mobile sound, HDMI port, 3.5mm jack and microSD expansion up to 32GB.
As stated earlier there is currently no official price for the Acer Iconia Smart in India however the Android smartphone is expected to go for somewhere in the range of 30K IRN.

A while ago the guys over at Phone Dog done a hands-on video with the Acer Iconia Smart, which we have posted for your viewing pleasure below so feel free to check the footage out. Any of our readers over in India contemplating picking up the Android Gingerbread toting Acer Iconia Smart?

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Where is the Droid X 2 & Bionic on Verizon

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For all the Verizon faithful out there waiting to see what smartphones are on offer Spring/Summer 2011, Verizon released the guide yesterday. However, the Droid X2 and Bionic are nowhere to be seen.
Smartphones like the DROID Charge and LG Revolution are featured in the guide as “Coming soon!”, but the first two dual-core devices are absent, with no indication as to why.

Yesterday, we did an article on the possible Verizon release dates for the LG Revolution, Xperia Play and Droid X2 – see article here. Whilst, for the LG Revolution and Xperia Play it appears the release dates could be true, the no show of the Droid X2 on the guide leaves us in some doubt as to whether it will release on the 12th as hoped. Also, has the Bionic been cancelled by Verizon in favour of the Targa?
The Verizon guide was brought to us by way of Droid-Life and shows the first WP7 device – HTC Trophy, is there sitting proud with the Droid Incredible 2, but there is no dual-core handset to be viewed. See full guide.
So what do you think of Motorola‘s Droid X2 and Bionic not being shown on the guide? Do you think we will see a release by Verizon in the near future? Please let us know your thoughts below.

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CyanogenMod 7.0.3 Fixes Security Hole and Notification Bug, But Still No 2.3.4

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Chris Soyars – a member of the CyanogenMod team – has announced a .3 update for the current stable version of CyanogenMod. No, folks, this is not 2.3.4. (But did you know you could get Google Talk with video anyway?) This one fixes an “important” security hole and also fixes a bug with the update notifications system. They unfortunately cannot say what the security vulnerability is for quite some time but that’s because they want to make sure hackers won’t get their hands on that information and use it against everyone. You’ll want to apply this update ASAP, I imagine, so be sure to find it over at their mirror site now. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

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Copy Numbers Down While On A Phone Call With Number Saver For Android

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Number Saver for Android is a simple yet effective way to copy important numbers down right in the middle of a conversation.  Seems so simple right?  It is.  In the middle of your phone call just type the number in the indicated field and wallah, when that call is over you can dial the other number instantly by pulling down the notification bar where the number was saved for easy access.  Do away with yellow sticky pads in your pocket for good by heading on over to our apps database for more info and to snag the QR code if you’re on a mobile device.  Feel free to let us know what you think of the app in the comments below.

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