One of the biggest drawbacks to Google's Android Market, and possibly one of the aspects of the OS that most frequently drives users to app piracy, is the fact that there are so few countries with access to paid apps.  Google is looking to change that, though, with the news that they're expanding paid app availability to 12 more countries: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Finland, Hong Kong, Israel, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Singapore and South Africa.  In addition, there are reports that Sweden and Hungary are beginning to see paid apps appear in the Market. 

This is great news for Android fans and developers alike, and I'm sure Google is pleased to open up the Android platform to more interested devs.  I'm just surprised it's taken this long for the big G to enable paid apps beyond the scant number of countries that have been available up until now.  After all, the Android Market has been available for almost two years now.  All that aside, I'm excited to see Android paid apps available to a multitude of new users, which means more devs, more apps, and better quality all around.

Via TechCrunch