Verizon on Tuesday said that its Verizon Developer Community is now accepting submissions for apps running on Android 2.2, and that the Verizon App Store will be available on Android phones by year's end.
The company also released 20 different location-, messaging-, and network-based APIs to developers as part of its VDC conference in Las Vegas.
Verizon first announced plans for its V Cast Application Store last year with partner Research in Motion. It launched the first V Cast app store on the Storm 2 in March, and has since expanded to six additional RIM handsets, with the Curve 3G coming soon.
The company is now expanding beyond the RIM platform. Verizon has "opened up submissions for Android 2.2," said Greg Haller, vice president of consumer solutions at Verizon.
"Some have asked - Verizon, what are you thinking?" Haller said. "Is there really a need for another store? We think so" because it will provide choice, opportunity, simplicity, and competition. "We'll help customers find apps and let them decide how they want to get them," Haller said.
Haller said he "can't be specific" about the Android handsets that will feature the Verizon app store, though he touted some Verizon-based Android devices, like the Droid, the Incredible, Droid X, Fascinate, and the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Tab.
"By the holiday season, we expect to triple the number of devices that have V Cast apps," Haller said. "Together, we can hear the cash registers ring."
Haller also announced plans to release additional APIs to developers. The first – a network API – will provide developers with access to the Verizon Wireless network. Second, the messaging APIs will let developers create apps and services that send, receive, and request receipt of text and multimedia messages for Verizon customers. The messaging API will also enable developers to offer features like "link-to-buy" a product.
The location API, meanwhile, will let developers offer more specific and targeted offers, Verizon said. There are two versions of location APIs: coarse location, which has an average range of one to two miles and works with all Verizon Wireless phones; and refined, which offers more granular location information and works on a more limited number of devices.
These APIs will be distributed to VDC members this week.
Haller also discussed an "exclusive SDK" known as NAVBuilder Inside (NBI), a cross-platform offering for mapping, navigation, and location-based services. It's available for Android, BlackBerry, Brew, and Windows Mobile operating systems. Developers can create apps that take advantage of location-based services, like directions, finders, alerts and geo-tagging. It's available on the Verizon Developer Community portal and includes a MapKit for embedding maps and a LocationKit for apps using standalone GPS, Cell ID or Wi-Fi.
On the same day that MetroPCS launched the nation's first LTE network, Haller also talked up Verizon's LTE efforts. He reiterated that Verizon LTE will be available in 25 to 30 markets by year's end, and said that LTE "continues to bring with it huge opportunities for developers," given they will be able to consumer more bandwidth and experience lower latency.
"When you combine that with the creativity and innovation [of developers], the apps that follow should be spectacular," Haller said.
Haller also discussed Verizon's missteps in the last year; apologizing for delays in approving apps.
"We reaffirm our commitment to getting apps through the [approval] process quickly," Haller said. "However, we're going to test our apps [and] review content. It's about ensuring them a great customer experience."
"We are done with excuses, and we're done with delays and my team's committed to that," Haller continued. "The bottom line is we know we have to be better [to make sure] you get what you need when you need it."