By Joe Levi | June 15, 2011 7:24 PM
Earlier today, Android developers were sent an email indicating the Google Checkout portion of the Android Market would be unavailable between 4pm and 5pm PDT due to “planned system maintenance”.
Planned system maintenance isn’t unusual. Planned maintenance during business hours is a bit out of the ordinary. When you add in the fact that developers only got a few hour’s notice, that’s where things begin to get a bit worrisome.
Visitors to the web version of the Android Market are being met with a notification bar, complete with yellow exclamation point, indicating they’ll be unable to purchase apps, books, or movies until after the maintenance is complete. (Free downloads, however, won’t be affected.)
This could be an indication of a serious bug or flaw that’s been found in Google Checkout and is being fixed as quickly as possible. It could also be a new form of payment (NFC, perhaps?) being brought online. Or it might just be regularly scheduled maintenance.
What do you think? Is something serious being fixed, or is this just business as usual? Let us know your thoughts and conspiracy theories in the comments below.
Text of the email sent to developers
Hello,
We’re writing to inform you about a planned service outage impacting Android Market that requires your attention.
On Wednesday, June 15th, Google Checkout will be unavailable from approximately 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. PDT due to planned system maintenance. During this time, you will be unable to sign in to your Merchant accounts (http://checkout.google.com) and transactions will not be processed. The Android Market Developer Console (http://market.android.com/publish/) will still be available.
During the outage, users will still be able to view paid applications on Android Market; however, any attempts at purchases will fail. No new orders will be created. After the maintenance has been completed, all normal activity will resume. No action is required on your part.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Regards,
The Android Market Team
Thanks: Simply Applied
