Verizon Launching Brew Mobile App Catalog

Verizon Wireless will be the first to launch an open catalog program for Qualcomm's Brew mobile platform for developers later this summer, the two companies said.

The announcement, made Thursday during the Uplinq 2010 Conference in San Diego, gives developers greater opportunity to create more applications for Verizon Wireless customers. Open Catalog will enable developers to promote their applications directly to consumers and also reduce their time to market.

The Brew mobile operating system is based on technology that is flexible, scalable, and has "powered over 1,200 device models and hundreds of millions of handsets," according to its website. Developers can provide capabilities like touchscreen, rich multimedia, window management, open platform extensibility, and expanded support for native application development on the Brew platform.

"The world of applications is growing, and our goal is to help developers get their applications and other content to our customers as fast and as easily as possible, so everyone benefits," said Ryan Hughes, VP of business development and partner management at Verizon Wireless, in a statement. "Opening our catalog for Brew applications allows us to engage with many new developers and to address their needs to grow and expand their offers."

The carrier's 3G multimedia handsets and simple feature phones that support the Brew platforms will be available for Open Catalog. Verizon Wireless said there are no device minimums, and developers can support just the devices they need for their businesses. They will be offered lower costs with Open Catalog for application validation, testing, and authentication, the carrier said.

Qualcomm is committed to fostering a strong mobile content environment, said Mitch Oliver, VP of ecosystem development for Qualcomm. "We are able to facilitate this ecosystem by cultivating the mutually beneficial relationships between an operator and its developers at low operational costs with Open Catalog, which we feel is critical to creating the best possible end-user experiences,'' he said.

Brew developers will have more control of their content distribution with Open Catalog and will be able to push app downloads directly to consumers through promotional campaigns such as SMS short codes, Verizon said. Users will also be able to search and browse for both paid and free content.