Despite persistent rumours that Vodafone's 360 platform remains beset by rumours of internal rows over strategy and poor sales, the company has announced that the 360 apps store is now accepting paid apps via the Joint Innovation Lab (JIL) initiative.
Having the support of the JIL, which was set up two years ago by China Mobile, Softbank, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone to provide a platform for developers to target their billion-plus subscribers, will enable app developers to target 50 phone models. This includes the Vodafone 360 H1 and M1 phones from Samsung, and Symbian/S60 phones from Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung.
Vodafone said that developers could choose one, some or all of selected its markets for each app they publish. They could also select from 20 price points ranging from €0.49 to €9.99 and set separate prices for each Vodafone market.
Developers, who will benefit from the standard 70/30 revenue split, can follow the success of their apps with daily and monthly sales reports on JIL.org which will show developers how many downloads/sales each app has had at each price point in each market.
Last month Vodafone closed a €1m developers' competition to stimulate a supply of apps for the site. Internal research showed the apps that consumers wanted most were shopping, social networks, food & drink and weather.
The company has also announced that UK consumers can now access Vodafone 360 using a pre-pay option with the Samsung M1 costing £80.
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Computer Weekly
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