Comments on: Verizon Talks the Openness Talk, Doesn't Walk the Openness Walk

By: Is Your Carrier The Fanboy or The Underdog? – GigaOM

Is Your Carrier The Fanboy or The Underdog? – GigaOM — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:06:25 +0000

[...] years ago to support “any app, any device,” the carrier’s certification process has been notoriously slow, and Verizon has said that its upcoming app store will be the sole marketplace on handsets it sells [...]

By: McGuire’s Law » Blog Archive » Observations: Openness - September 28, 2009

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:01:48 +0000

[...] Verizon Talks the Openness Talk, Doesn’t Walk the Openness Walk [...]

By: Carl Ford

Carl Ford — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:02:00 +0000

Verizon is looking for a different model than transporting the web to a third party browser.

They are looking for the services they can offer, to the third party and the browser.

On the web these strategies exist, (e.g. Akami). At the end of the day Verizon may find something that makes the transport better. Right now they are trying to enable location, billing and their concept of security. I recognize that Parlay-X is not a strategy for web development for the majority of developers, but it’s an effort to provide the service neutrally.

Given the fact that comparison in these posts have been to the app stores of the device manufacturers’ on not the carrier, some observation fo the efforts to provide a different platform should be appreciated.

By: Carl Ford

Carl Ford — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:41:31 +0000

Sorry, I am late to this discussion, but I think this debate is way of track. Look at the iPhone and think about Craig Moffet’s observations that Apple, not ATT is the dominating force. This is also proven in the documents shared by Apple, Google and ATT regarding GoogleVoice.

Verizon is always about selling the value of their network, which most people think is pretty good. So they are looking for a path that enables apps without having the compliants about network degradation that ATT is suffering.

As someone who fought with my opps guys because they were doing truck rolls to condition lines for third party modems, I ask that some balance be put in play here. Particularly if you follow Chairman Genachowski’s new Net Neutrality Freedoms. Verizon is right to try to navigate for a network API than makes sense.

By: 6outa7

6outa7 — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:21:48 +0000

I have been saying for years that Verizon will go kicking and screaming into the dumb pipe world and making their service more and more restrictive for users as they do.
The LTE for data only as a hybrid handset strategy makes so much sense.
I, for one, will not use VZW as my voice provider – their policies and actions prove that they love the (custom) blade and (proprietary) razor world and don’t want to leave.
Damn their world class network! I wish it weren’t true.

By: Colin Gibbs

Colin Gibbs — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:16:07 +0000

Stacey’s right, and the fact that VZW’s app store will be embedded instead of the platform stores shouldn’t be minimized. I have plenty of BlackBerry-toting friends who aren’t even aware that App World exists.

By: Stacey Higginbotham

Stacey Higginbotham — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:54:37 +0000

Verizon subscribers (with BlackBerries) have App World now, but Verizon has said future phones will come pre-loaded with its own app store. However, subscribers ARE free to download any other app stores themselves.

By: Gary Finn

Gary Finn — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:28:14 +0000

“The carrier has decided not to install (GigaOM Pro, subscription required) RIM’s BlackBerry App World…”

I don’t know about anyone else, but I have a Blackberry Pearl on Verizon and it definitely has Blackberry App World on it. I think it came with a firmware upgrade or something? Not sure, but it is definitely there.

By: tom

tom — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:17:07 +0000

my suspicion has been that verizon choose LTE on 700 mhz in order to be consistent with and eventually merge network infrastructure with AT&T who is also deploying LTE in the same spectrum range.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:52:09 +0000

While I also don’t like VZW, my opinion is that they are going with data only on LTE (at least initially) because the standards for Voice and SMS have not yet been finalized. I would also argue that it is not in VZW’s interest to use entirely different device standards as it would increase the device prices and limit the choice. Probably VZW chose LTE standard than the alternate CDMA technology for the same reasons.

By: tom

tom — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:16:44 +0000

i smell something really funky everything i read that verizon plans on deploying LTE for data only and not voice. what that means is that they are explicitly preventing compatibility with the future GSM phones. they seem to be planning a hybrid phone strategy were they will sell highly customized phones that use CDMA for voice and than the data only aspect of LTE at 700 mhz. so there will still be no compatibility with GSM phones from other networks.

By: Michael Hudak

Michael Hudak — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:06:53 +0000

“Open” and “Verizon” are two words that don’t go in the same sentence. I’m still waiting for a GPS unlock on my VZW Blackberry 8830… I’m not holding my breath (or paying them another $10 per month for their crappy map program). Bastards.

By: frink

frink — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:01:22 +0000

“…forcing consumers to download the platform.”

Damn, those are some pretty harsh requirements. Wowes the consumer, who is incidentally, trying to download other applications in the first place…

By: gbp

gbp — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:41:30 +0000

I wish iPhone stays with ATT forever.
And I wish SPRINT or T Mobile come up with another killer phone to grab couple of million customers from Verizon.

That would teach them a lesson.