Verizon overhauls mobile app store; targets enterprise smartphones

From the Verizon Developer Community (VDC) Conference in Las Vegas today, Verizon highlighted its commitment to all things apps. Among the day's announcements were details of its promised revamp of VCast, now more simply called the Verizon Apps store; the announcement that search technology from Chomp — which lets users search based on what the app does, not just what it's called —will be on all its Android smartphones starting this fall; and the introduction of the Verizon Private Applications Store for Business.

Consumers will notice a new user interface and recommendations engine in the Verizon Apps store, but it's developers they've bent over backward for. Among other features, it's now easier to submit applications — developers no longer need to submit a concept before the actual app — editing app meta data is simpler, there's reportedly greater transparency throughout the process, greater granularity and more in-depth tools, and the ability to both target specific devices get feedback on what's working and what isn't.

Chomp, the company said in a statement, has filed for 11 patents for its search technology, which includes an algorithm that's capable of learning about the app — and whether it's a fit for the user — from information it gleans from other app marketplaces, as well as data from sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

Truly taking out the guesswork for business, the Private Applications Store for Business , which will launch later this year, will be a place where Verizon enterprise customers can set up and manage their own mobile app storefronts, making it simpler for employees and partners — regardless of the devices, operating systems or carriers they're using — to download apps outside the corporate firewall.

On Aug. 12 Verizon — making a second brick-and-mortar statement about its commitment to app growth and development — opened an Application Innovation Center in San Francisco where developers of all sizes can have space and resources to work on their own or collaborate with like minds. (MDP: Verizon Opens Application Innovation Center, Plans VCast Revamp)

“Applications are driving how consumers and businesses are using their wireless devices, and developers play a key role in creating new and innovative ways to help users realize the potential of wireless,” said Verizon Chief Marketing Officer Marni Walden, who keynoted the event.

Walden discussed Verizon's move into the mobile payments space, its focus on M2M and, "the most disruptive change of all, the rollout of LTE. In a market that in the last month alone has seen such major changes as Google's purchase of Motorola and a change of leadership at Apple, "Our job," Walden told the audience of developers, "is to help you make sense of it all."