Verizon BREWs a New Mix for Mobile App Developers

At its Verizon Developer Community Conference, Verizon Wireless rang in with the new but also made clear that it is not forgetting developers focusing on its older supported platform.

Verizon assured developers who write applications for the Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless, or BREW, that the company will continue to support BREW, an application development environment created by Qualcomm.

Despite announcing a new V CAST Apps store and enhancing partnerships with the likes of Research In Motion for the support of developers building smartphone applications, Verizon offered enhanced support for BREW application development.

At its VDC conference in San Jose, Calif., on July 28, Verizon announced an agreement with Qualcomm to promote growth on the BREW platform. Under the agreement, Verizon and Qualcomm will be rolling out new features, including a recommendation engine—powered by Qualcomm subsidiary Xiam Technologies—that improves the discovery experience for customers, tapping into a catalog with thousands of BREW applications.

To encourage innovation and feed the consumer appetite for discovering and using new applications, Verizon plans to introduce an open catalog that simplifies certification and on-boarding processes. This will include simplifying certification for developers.

John Stratton, Verizon's chief marketing officer, spoke at the conference and said Verizon has been very successful with BREW and will continue to enhance support for the platform to empower developers.

Ryan Hughes, vice president of business development and partner management for Verizon, said, "We are focused on providing tools, distribution and monetization capabilities broadly to the development community. It makes great sense as we move along this path that we encourage apps development in a variety of operating systems and programming languages. There's a great opportunity for application developers with Verizon Wireless, whether you're developing for the mass marketplace or business customers, feature phones or smartphones, or all of the above."

Arvin Chander, vice president and general manager of Qualcomm Internet Services, said, "Qualcomm and Verizon Wireless have worked together for many years to help create a profitable path to market for the mobile developer community. We are pleased that they will continue to offer new BREW services and look forward to working closely with Verizon Wireless to help drive their content strategy forward."

Verizon also announced the launch of its developer portal (www.developer.verizon.com) and the upcoming launch of the V CAST Apps storefront.

At the conference, some of the discussions focused on using open network services and APIs creatively, bringing applications to market quickly and sharing revenue. Verizon also said its new V CAST Apps storefront, where developers can take advantage of the company's scale and distribution, will debut before the end of this year.

Lowell McAdam, president and CEO of Verizon Wireless, told developers: "Verizon Wireless has a strong tradition of leadership in apps and content. But, it's a new day and our future success is no longer going to be ours alone. Your ability to innovate and create and distribute will be the measures of how well we do, together."

Stratton said the company values and relies on input from the developer community, and plans to make the process for registering and distributing applications with Verizon "simple, fast and straightforward." Stratton noted streamlined processes designed to address developer demands for speed and transparency. He said V CAST Apps will provide a streamlined testing and certification process with a goal of having applications launched within 14 days of submission. It also will give developers the opportunity to set their own prices for applications.

Roger Gurnani, Verizon Wireless senior vice president for product development, said the company will encourage new apps development with a contest—Apply Your Ideas—starting next month. Developers can submit apps in a wide variety of categories, and winners will be featured in V CAST Apps after it launches. More information on the contest, including contest rules and timing, is available at www.developer.verizon.com.

Gurnani also announced Verizon Wireless' plan to open a Silicon Valley-based Innovation Center in 2010 to support developers and give them access to a myriad of other services and resources from the company as they create innovative applications for consumers.