Verizon To Launch VCast App Store

Verizon Wireless is jumping on the application store bandwagon and taking on Apple and its App Store with its own Vcast application store.

Verizon Wireless on Tuesday officially announced plans for its VCast Application Store, a venture that executives painted as complementary to existing app store offerings.

The app store will launch in the fourth quarter, and developers will take home 70 percent of their revenue. At this point, Verizon will not charge for certification and testing of submitted apps, and is promising a 14-day turnaround time, John Stratton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Verizon, said during the company's developer conference in San Jose, Calif.

Apple, which launched the App Store just over a year ago, is the hands-down leader in the smartphone application market. In its first year, developers have added more than 50,000 applications and users have downloaded over a billion applications onto iPhones and iPod Touch devices.

Verizon's first app store partner will be Research in Motion. Jim Balsillie, co-chief executive office of RIM, said that RIM's support of the VCast App Store would not affect support for BlackBerry App World, which launched in April.

Balsillie also announced a Web development SDK for BlackBerry, which includes tools for Eclipse and Microsoft Visual Studio version 1.2.

RIM has seen more downloads from Verizon Wireless customers than any other carrier, Balsillie said. RIM and Verizon will pair their APIs in order to create location-aware apps and align billing. Verizon's Stratton said that, ultimately, he wants to see a one-click process for buying programs over Verizon's network.

(July 29, 2009)

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