Mogees adds BlackBerry to its flexible payment platform

March 16, 2009 | Anthony Ha | Comments | |

A startup called Mogees wants to give developers more control over how they make money from mobile applications, and now it’s expanding its reach. The Mountain View, Calif. company is launching a new software development kit (SDK) that lets developers add its payment system to apps on Research in Motion’s BlackBerry smartphones.

Mogees already launched an SDK for Google’s Android Market last November; I would expect to see similar offerings for popular smartphones like Apple’s iPhone and the Palm Pre. There are already ways to make money from mobile applications, but they tend to fall into three broad camps — mobile advertising, making customers pay up front to use the app, or some combination of free and premium products. Mogees says there are other possibilities, such as shareware (free trials), subscriptions, and virtual goods, and it wants to enable all of them.

Of course, as others have noted, Mogees could become redundant if the various app stores start to allow more flexibility in payment, but that certainly hasn’t happened yet. And the company has the benefit of a founding team of PayPal alums, meaning they have experience in this area. The company touts its flexibility as well as its ease of use for developers and users. For example, developers can set up a free trial plan in less than an hour. And when a user’s free trial is over, that user can start paying via PayPal or credit card just by clicking through a few screens (and entering some account information).

Mogees is also launching a rewards program, which lets developers offer “Mogees Rewards” points to users who download their apps, which can then be redeemed for prizes like Amazon gift certificates.

By the way, I’ve asked the company for specifics about the success of the Android SDK, but haven’t heard back yet.

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About the Author, Anthony Ha

Anthony is VentureBeat's assistant editor, as well as its reporter on enterprise technology, cloud computing, and tech policy. Before joining VentureBeat in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.

  • I'm glad for this - especially after my recent Blackberry purchase!
  • Tim Jacobs
    I think of idea of making money from "shareware (free trials), subscriptions, and virtual goods" is a great idea. Many people, like myself, like to try apps before buying and this seems like a good way to do it. Many people in places such as online gaming, spend lots of money on fake stuff. Also look at items such as Facebook gifts.

    I think Mogees can really succeed if they get their platform across to all mobile devices.
  • Indeed ... though today's iPhone news may mean there's not much opportunity for Mogees there.