Even though HP made its intentions known that it’s getting out of the webOS smartphone/tablet business, it’s still firmly entrenched with wireless operators, and it’s offering up its expertise in app storefronts.
Specifically, HP used the SDP Summit in Berlin, Germany, this week to highlight a solution that it’s already using to help operators create app stores – and make them friendly to developers.
Even with iOS and Android Market dominating the market in apps, carriers have an opportunity to use their charging/payment mechanisms and customer database information as a differentiator, says Joe Dyoub, WW Product Solution Manager for HP Service Delivery Platform.
HP is a member of the Wholesale Applications Community (WAC), which officially opened for business at the last Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. WAC is comprised of a group of operators and vendors worldwide that want to standardize the mobile apps ecosystem.
HP earlier this year announced its work on app stores with Korean operators, and it’s got some other wins overseas that are not yet ready for public disclosure. But suffice it to say, HP is pitching its solutions to carriers around the world as well as North America.
“We view it as a strategic capability that a carrier will need,” Dyoub says. “We believe our platform can help them get there a lot faster.”
The HP SDP Storefront Portal includes these key components: App Store, enabling mobile subscribers to access different application catalogs; and Developer Portal, providing developer kits, APIs, self-service tools and more so developers can take advantage of carriers’ assets. The idea is that by exposing network assets such as location, messaging and presence, developers will be able to create services that operators need.
The HP SDP Storefront Portal solution is based on the company’s service delivery platform (SDP) technology. The company says the solution is packaged with a framework to enable two-sided business models: wholesale and retail. It includes tools and application programing interfaces (APIs) that developers can use to create enriched applications and a test-and-certification module to make sure applications work as intended on subscriber devices.
