(And by "General Public" I mean, people who aren't paying $30 a month for data transfers, and just using wifi instead.)
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Not sure what you mean here. Who pays Google $30 a month? Android is completely unconnected to carriers.– Arda XiCommented Oct 13, 2010 at 22:14
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@Arda Xi The key word in the question is "Keeping", The questioner is concerned that carriers will put presure on Google to only allow the market to be used of 3g and not wifi.– trampsterCommented Oct 13, 2010 at 23:12
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@trampster Actually I was just trying out the Android SDK to see what Android was like, and the default system image doesn't come with anything...not even a calendar. Then I found out that you needed the Android Market to get some of the applications and it appears that you can only get Market outside of a phone carrier by taking the risk of bricking your device.– leeand00Commented Oct 14, 2010 at 1:02
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4You do not need the Android Market to get applications at all. You can install them manually.– Arda XiCommented Oct 14, 2010 at 4:51
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1 Answer
You can download applications over a wifi connection without any phone plan. For example, I recently removed an HTC Hero from my phone plan and was able to download applications to the phone over Wifi with no problem.... even though I could not make calls.
Since Android is not limited to phones or devices with wireless data plans, requiring a phone plan would not be possible for all Android devices.
Additionally, with competion in the works like Amazon's upcoming Android applications market, there will be too much disincentive for Google to require a monthly fee for market access.
answered Oct 13, 2010 at 23:47
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So when is that Amazon Android Applications market due out?– leeand00Commented Oct 14, 2010 at 1:01
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1According to the WSJ article link I just added above, they haven't announced a date yet. Commented Oct 14, 2010 at 1:25
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1FWIW, this has been out for a while now: amazon.com/mobile-apps/b/…– AmandaCommented May 16, 2011 at 12:42