Google’s Jambool acquisition brings In-App Payments to Android Market

In a letter sent from Jambool, a Google acquisition in August 2010 known for their Social Gold virtual currency platform, we see signs of a new in-app payment feature for Android Apps.

Google announced back in January that work was underway on the in-app payment system, but gave no more details on the production, such as a feasible release date. Until Jambool sent the following email to current customers.

Jambool’s Letter to Customers on In-App Payments and Social Gold

Hello,

Thank you for your use of the Jambool Social Gold platform. As you know, Jambool was acquired by Google last August. This acquisition meant that some changes to our business were inevitable, and we’d like to share them with you today.

First, the existing Jambool Social Gold product will be discontinued in favor of a new Google in-app payment product in May 2011. Rest assured that you will be able to sign in to the Jambool merchant console through September 2011, and you will receive year-end financial statements in February 2012.

Second, we’d like to invite you to participate in the pre-release beta of the Google in-app payment system. This system will enable developers to accept payments within an app, but it will not have the full functionality of Social Gold at launch. We understand that this will not meet the needs of all developers currently using Social Gold, but we highly encourage interested developers to join the Google in-app payments beta by submitting your information at http://google.com/checkout/inapp.

Again, we thank you for your flexibility during this transition period. Please feel free to respond to this email with any questions about your Jambool account or the new Google in-app payment product.

Sincerely,
The Jambool Team

Implementing In-App Payments In Time for I/O

The timing of the release stated by Jambool coincides well with the Google I/O developer conference, their annual get-together for developers, which is scheduled for May 10th and 11th.  We’ll keep an eye on Jambool and its in-app payments plans as they develop.