Verizon Wireless makes new commitment to Brew
To rework developer program and app store after five years "frozen in time"
Published: 5 July, 2010
READ MORE: US | Verizon Wireless | App Store | BREW
The US carriers have both placed perhaps surprising faith in the Qualcomm Brew software platform recently. Verizon Wireless and AT&T are both increasing their support for Brew, which they target at midrange featurephones, despite the growth of smartphones with full open content platforms. At Qualcomm's Brew developer conference, Uplinq, last week, AT&T reiterated plans to release about 10 Brew-based featurephones this year, claiming about two-thirds of its base still opt for what it calls 'QMDs (quick messaging devices). AT&T's interest in Brew is new, but its rival Verizon Wireless has a longstanding commitment to the formerly CDMA-only system - but told Uplinq attendees that it had accepted it needed to rework its platform, or kill it.
It opted for the former option, and now plans a significantly upgraded version of its Get It Now applications store, which hosts the Brew content and apps. This has underperformed in the era of smartphones - and Verizon's own strong move towards Android - admitted Verizon Wireless CMO John Stratton, in an Uplinq keynote. Stratton said featurephone app revenue had declined steadily since a peak in 2007, even though the subscriber base and mobile data demand had rise significantly during the same period.
Verizon Wireless had asked itself "is this business worth saving?" Stratton said. As reported by ConnectedPlanet, he added: "There are huge opportunities in the Verizon Wireless base we need to work harder to unleash, to tap into."
As a result of this crisis of faith, Verizon now plans to update its store and certification process to provide a more compelling experience for its 56m non-smartphone subscribers. The main step has already been promised, but Stratton provided additional details of the Open Catalog, which will support a variety of developer models. It will allow carrier and other forms of billing including micropayments, and include free, paid-for and 'freemium' apps (the latter offer free trials or basic free services with an upgrade to a paid-for, premium version). Adding free apps should boost traffic and Stratton said the upside for the cellco will be increased data fees.
The carrier also hopes to make it easier for Brew developers to get their wares into the Get It Now store. It will reduce its certification and testing fees dramatically from $550 to $99 and will drop a requirement for apps to target all devices in the portfolio, so participants can focus their resources on the most powerful or popular phones. Stratton also said the aim was to reduce certification time from one month to an average of 18 days or less.
The store will get a new user interface, after having been "frozen in time" for five years, and navigation will be improved, using Qualcomm's Xiam recommendation technology to suggest apps to customers.
"We need to recognize that smartphones won't get to 100%," Stratton said. "The featurephone will be a declining part of our future sales, but they'll still be a pretty big part."
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