Comments on: Developers: Verizon Wants You!

By: Shai Berger

Shai Berger — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 02:21:04 +0000

An encouraging sign from Verizon… prob’ly see similar moves from the other big carriers.

Competition continues to heat up and they know they have to find differentiating features to keep subscribers loyal. They also know that the next Twitter isn’t going to come from their internal dev team.

But, if you’re a developer trying to build a business around a mobile app, your best bet is still to make a generic web-based interface and avoid any kind of carrier tie-in. (Or maybe build it on Yahoo’s new Go platform.)

If your thing takes off, and you have significant traffic, then the carriers will pay attention and you can cut a good deal.

But not too much traffic… or they’ll block you :-)

http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/mobile-phones/tmobile-blocks-minutewatcher-from-tracking-cell-minutes.asp

http://www.centernetworks.com/tmobile-blocks-twitter

A bit more on this conundrum: http://www.shaiberger.com/?p=39

By: random geekathon at normalblog

random geekathon at normalblog — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:31:40 +0000

[...] the openmoko will one day run on Verizon, but frankly I think it’s too late to [...]

By: Mobilebuzz

Mobilebuzz — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:23:32 +0000

To add to the mixed message, the conference is for device developers (does this mean OEM’s? - I’m confused). Also, the dialogue seems to be unilateral - according to Verizon’s annoucement Verizon will present its device “standards” (which is contradictory in itself). Is this another way for saying it will impose its requirements on OEM’s? Where then is the openness part? Maybe I’m just confused.

By: Zoobos

Zoobos — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 07:30:04 +0000

Verizon seems to take a step forward with this, by allowing developers to use their network but I am skeptical just because they will impose so many restrictions that it would make it nearly impossible to take advantage of that offer.

By: SMS Text News » Archives » It’s too much to ask to make it all work properly, isn’t it?

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 07:17:20 +0000

[...] Developers: Verizon Wants You! - GigaOM Two months after saying it would open up its network to other devices, Verizon Wireless is inviting [...]

By: Gates VP

Gates VP — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 22:52:59 +0000

Does Verizon have support for advertising or paid-for products?

Development costs for such a specific can be really prohibitive. If you can’t convert the program to cash reasonably quickly, then you’re not going to get a lot of support.

Look to the rise of the Facebook platform for a sampling of this. The tech-savvy crowd would rather build a Facebook app and plug in some ad support to try and bring in some cash. There’s a limited number of these technically-savvy, highly entrepreneurial people available. If there’s no money available in the platform, it’ll be tough to find killer apps.

Has Verizon at least run a for-money contest for the “best new app”?

By: New Organics Information » Developers: Verizon Wants You!

New Organics Information » Developers: Verizon Wants You! — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 20:34:38 +0000

[...] GigaOM put an intriguing blog post on Developers: Verizon Wants You! [...]