SAN JOSE--Verizon Wireless continued to outline details of its forthcoming VCast Application Store at its first Verizon Developer Community event here, promising a collaborative developmental environment highlighted by open network APIs, streamlined go-to-market processes and hands-on technical support.
"We're taking down the barriers and making it easier for developers," said Verizon Wireless' Roger Guarani, senior vice president of product development. "We're very committed to collaborating with our developers." Guarani added that Verizon's commitment includes a stated intent to eliminate registration fees as well as charges for application testing and certification, announcements that generated applause from the developers in the audience. "That is our intent," Guarani stressed. "We will adjust our policies if we're testing the same app again and again."
According to Guarani, the basis of Verizon's evolving relationship with programmers is the operator's new online VDC Portal, which will serve as a hub for development tools, resources and APIs as well as feedback mechanisms, online forums and related support offerings. "We're essentially giving you access to Verizon engineers," Guarani added. "This is an open partnership, with two-way dialogue."
Verizon Wireless also introduced its new Service Execution Gateway, a platform to administrate application queries into network functions like location, presence and messaging. "The Service Execution Gateway validates application requests and performs the appropriate security policies," said Verizon Wireless Vice President of Product Development Kyle Malady.
Verizon Wireless officially announced the VCast Application Store earlier today. The carrier said the storefront, scheduled to launch in the fourth quarter, will complement its existing on-device portal with a new online portal to better distribute and promote smartphone applications--Verizon added it will offer a set of open network APIs compatible with the underlying SDK for all supported mobile operating systems, and give programmers access to carrier billing options.
In other Verizon news, the carrier announced a renewed deal with Qualcomm for the company's BREW application distribution system. The companies said they would focus on supporting free applications to encourage discovery, simplifying the certification process and getting applications to market more quickly. The announcement is notable given Verizon Wireless' recent embrace of the rival Java technology.
For more:
- see the release from Verizon and Qualcomm about BREW
- read about the new VCast Application Store
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