Verizon reveals open development plans

At their "Open Development Conference" in New York today, Verizon Wireless finally spilled the beans on their "Any App, Any Device" initiative. Though there are certain limitations, it seems that the process of submitting, certifying and activating devices and apps on the Verizon network should be fairly straightforward for both consumers and developers. While we still don't have a very clear picture of how the open applications portion of the initiative will go down, we're told that consumers will have the "freedom to download their favorite apps," will be able to choose from "various payment options" and will not be subjected to extended contracts or additional fees.

On the hardware side of things, we have a better idea of how the process will work. A device manufacturer will submit a device to Verizon for testing and certification, which is expected to take about four weeks. Once the device is certified, it is registered in a database of approved devices. At this point, the vendor has two choices: Either sell the device sans voice/data, or buy airtime from Verizon wholesale and then resell it to consumers along with the device. In the latter scenario, the developer will be fully responsible for advertising and distribution, though Verizon will still offer technical support. In the former, a consumer simply purchases a device, validates its serial number on Verizon's website and then sets up an account with Verizon.

Best of all, if you're looking to add devices to your corporate Verizon plan or want write your own applications that will run on the network, you won't have to wait long: According to the company, this should all kick off by the second half of this year.

For more on Verizon's open initiative:
- see Gizmodo's liveblog of the conference
- and Verizon's open development website