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How Micro-Transactions Will Shake Up iPhone

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the hang-me-upside-down-and-shake dept.

Spanner Spencer writes "Talk to iPhone games developers, and the feature they're most excited about in the new iPhone 3.0 software is the ability to do in-game micro-transactions. And while you might wonder if this is just an excuse to get iPhone gamers to dip into their wallets even more often, it's actually a hugely positive thing for several reasons. Downloadable content, virtual items, subscription billing and fast-track social advancement are some of them, so Pocket Gamer looks into a bit more depth about what you can expect on the micro-payments side once iPhone 3.0 debuts."

3 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I hope it's clearly marked and confirmed by tepples · · Score: 5, Informative

    I hope Apple makes very sure that "micro-transactions" don't let developers try to keep slipping their fingers into my wallet quietly.

    As I understand it, $0.00 apps can't call the microtransaction API. That's why you can't buy new books in Amazon's Kindle app; you have to close it and open Safari.

  2. Isn't this going backwards? by webdog314 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I thought the whole point about the App Store was that you could BUY an app (as in, ONCE). This is very different than services such as Verizon's Get It Now, which allows you to get a SUBSCRIPTION to an app that you will pay for again and again each month for as long as you own the phone (or cancel the subscription). I understand about being able to "try" something to see if it's worth sticking with, but come on, most apps for the iPhone are a buck or two. You pick up a dozen for the cost of lunch. And how long is it going to be before the average "micropayment" starts creeping up to near what the greater percentage of apps cost now (.99)? Poof! You're Verizon again.

  3. Re:I hope it's clearly marked and confirmed by tattood · · Score: 5, Informative

    I hope Apple makes very sure that "micro-transactions" don't let developers try to keep slipping their fingers into my wallet quietly.

    Yes, it is very clearly marked with a popup window that asks you "Do you want to purchase (insert item here) for (insert price here)" window that you have to confirm or deny. They showed an example of this in the 3.0 press conference when they announced it.

    --
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