For a conference that started out with the name BREW, Qualcomm’s Uplinq event has focused very little on BREW this year, highlighting instead Qualcomm’s most recent successes in applications processing and software. But some BREW news did eke out of the show. Verizon Wireless announced it would add several new BREW Mobile Platform (MP)-powered devices to its feature phone portfolio in the coming months and would update those new devices with a revamped storefront and more sophisticated user interface. In addition, Verizon also unveiled new pricing plans for BREW that bundles limited Internet access with feature phone, which normally carry their own separate monthly fees.
The new Value Pack is $10 a month and includes 75 MB of data for Web browsing, social networking and app downloads as well as subscriptions to VZ Navigator, Verizon’s e-mail service and access to VZ’s ringback tone catalog.
The Navigator service is particularly significant as Verizon has always sold the turn-by-turn directions application as a premium subscription service, charging as much as $10 a month for it at launch (CP: Verizon Wireless launches LBS).The smartphone, however, has cannibalized much of that potential revenue, given the ready access it gives to free mapping and navigation services as well as e-mail. In short, VZW is still sticking with to its traditional carrier-driven services model for the feature phone, but it’s making those services a lot cheaper.
Verizon didn’t reveal too many details about the new devices and their new look, but the program appears to be a continuation of the feature phone overhaul VZW announced last year at BREW (CP: VZW to modernize BREW store).
Verizon let its BREW-based Get It Now store idle for years while its attention was focused on the emerging smartphone opportunity. But last year’s facelift added new flexible payment options to the store and streamlined the application approval process. VZW has also been using Qualcomm’s Xiam technology as a recommendation engine to aid app discoverability.