@ Uplinq: Verizon Wireless more flexible with BREW developers

SAN DIEGO–Verizon Wireless is changing how it manages its BREW services in order to spur higher takeup rates from BREW customers and to encourage more developers to write applications for the operating system, Verizon Wireless CMO John Stratton told the audience during Thursday’s Uplinq keynote here.
Verizon Wireless opened its BREW store in 2003, using Qualcomm Inc.’s BREW operating system. To put this in perspective, Stratton noted that the operator was shipping its first color-screen handset and its most popular mobile game was Jamdat Bowling. In 2005, the smartphone revolution began, and not coincidentally, the BREW shopping experience has been frozen since about 2005. In other words, as smartphone adoption began to take off, feature-phone applications got less attention. Third-quarter 2007 was the high mark for BREW–based revenues, Stratton said, noting revenues from BREW have declined steadily since then.
However, Verizon Wireless has made a strategic decision to continue to support the BREW ecosystem because it believes it has a significant user base who will continue to use the services, especially if the process is made easier for end users and developers, Stratton noted. “We are committed to the BREW platform,” he said, pointing out that of its 92 million customers, 56 million have BREW services on their handsets. “We just need to work a little bit harder.” Although Stratton said the company expects its base of feature-phone users to decline over time as smartphones get cheaper, the carrier does not want to lose sight of its installed base of feature-phone users, many of whom are family-plan customers.
As such, Verizon Wireless has opened up its catalog, and dropped its certification costs for BREW applications from $500 to $100. The carrier is promising that applications will be certified in half the amount of time, going from between 25 and 30 days to between 12 and 18 days.
VZW also is implementing Qualcomm’s Xiam recommendation engine, which based on user preferences and previous buys, recommends other applications for the end user.
Perhaps most interesting, Verizon Wireless is opening up its payment options for developers. Previously, BREW developers had to charge for applications at Verizon. Going forward, the carrier will offer other payment methods, like free applications or freemium models. This micro-transaction billing, starting with enabling weapons-buying during a shooting game, for example, eventually could morph to mobile advertising, Stratton said during a press conference following the keynote.