Having announced an app store framework this summer, Ericsson has now got itself further involved by calling for the cellular industry to build its own ‘horizontal' mobile app stores that span operating systems (OS) and devices.
While recognising that Google's increasingly successful Android OS was a leap forward, Ericsson senior VP, Jan Uddenfeldt, has urged operators to move beyond Android's handset-spanning app marketplace. "[Android] is a step in the right direction, but we think that we have to go even further to get applications across different devices," he said.
"We think it's very important when it comes to the app store, operators need to launch their own - and this is happening all over the world. We need to scale it beyond vertical stores...If the operators are involved, we can really scale it."
Ericsson said its app store framework, which it claims is already in use with unnamed operators, can be customised to suit numerous devices and OSs, and is also available as a hosted service.
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