Vodafone introduces new app developer platform with API access

After its music and video streaming ventures, Vodafone has now launched a platform for app developers. The new platform allows local as well as international app developers to build apps which can be bought by Vodafone users with operator billing support. The amount will reflect in the bills for postpaid customers and will get deducted from balance in case of pre-paid customers. The telco will also allow developers and content providers to utilize company’s network resources and APIs to get information about subscriber profile, billing, location and messaging, to help them build the requisite apps. Moreover, it will also give developers an app testing environment. It currently supports apps built for J2ME, Symbian, Android and Blackberry. [caption id=“attachment_208105” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  New platform for app developers[/caption]   “With the growth of smartphones and mobile internet, people are increasingly showing more interest in mobile applications and content services. To strengthen the ecosystem for application developers and content service providers and partner with them, we have launched the developer platform,” said Vivek Mathur, Chief Operating Officer, at Vodafone India. The importance of mobile content is not a hidden secret any more. Phone makers as well as mobile operators have been trying to woo users by adding exclusive apps and special data bundles. Lately the number of telecom companies tying up with phone makers has shot up and nearly every big launch has an attractive data plan bundled with it to get more users. Vodafone is going one step further by promoting development of apps. These could eventually find their way on to phones before they hit stores, which allows the company the opportunity to extract maximum revenue per user. We wouldn’t be surprised to see other telcos to follow Vodafone’s lead soon.