Verizon Wireless serves up Mobile Web Open Snacks

LAS VEGAS--Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) launched Mobile Web Open Snacks and Mobile Web Developer Toolkit, a pair of new developer tools powered by mobile content solutions provider Motricity's hosted, mobile-as-a-service mCore platform. The Mobile Web Open Snacks publishing API framework enables developers to build dynamic, personalized mobile web content feeds to more effectively engage with consumers and promote services--based on the RSS v2.0 standard, the solution extends RSS to include additional channel elements, complete with content refresh controls to update and customize feeds. The Mobile Web Developer Toolkit supplies a set of tools to optimize Internet content for wireless devices, extending the Open Source Mototools JavaScript framework and including a library of utilities to address fragmentation concerns.

"If you're not developing for the mobile web, your competition is," Motricity chief strategy and marketing officer Jim Ryan told attendees here at the second Verizon Developer Community conference. "Developers have figured out it's apps and the web. Both are important--it's not either/or."

Verizon Wireless executive director of consumer data services Colson Hillier said the operator anticipates the mobile web will emerge as a growing opportunity for developers in the months ahead. "The mobile Internet is the next frontier--we see a lot of continued investment and focus," he said. "[Verizon Wireless] will help drive consistency and standardization." Hillier urged developers to closely examine the mobile web opportunity, citing ease of development, content portability across platforms and simplified app maintenance. He credited recent mobile web advances including enhanced processor capability, improved user interfaces and browser standardization, noting that WebKit is fast becoming the default rendering engine. "The mobile Internet can transcend the way we communicate, the way business is done and the way we're entertained," Hillier said.

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