Verizon made a big splash in 2007 by talking up its plans to open its network to third-party developers. "Any application, any device" was the mantra.
Several months later, however, more questions than answers remain as to just how open Verizon plans to be, and what it's going to charge for the privilege of openness, as BusinessWeek has highlighted.
Among the biggest concerns: Verizon did not divulge any details of the pricing plans customers would be offered to use such devices. Nor did it publish any specifications to help software developers create applications for the network. In fact, the company distributed materials to attendees online, stressing that the company "will not approve, test, or service third-party applications that customers load onto their Open Development Devices."
... Read more
Mozilla's Firefox browser is truly one of the grand success stories of open source. This week Mozilla is celebrating 500 million Firefox downloads. Yet for all its success, it can't seem to crack the mobile wall, which is almost shameful given the innovation and competition it has sparked on the desktop:
One reason this walled garden approach benefits cellular operators is that they get paid both by subscribers and by content providers. With open Internet access, only subscribers pay. Another benefit is that their approach reduces use of limited 3G bandwidth, meaning carriers don't have to build a more robust network.
So, because mobile Firefox might benefit customers more than cellular providers, it's shackled. At least we can safely say this has nothing to do with a fear of open source. Rather, it's a fear of customers getting value, which the carriers spread to all software providers, open source or not.
Bozos.
... Read more
- prev
- 1
- next
