Verizon to launch music store

Verizon Wireless will launch its App and Music mobile download site on April 7. This move puts the wireless giant in direct competition with Apple's iTunes store, with music available for download at $0.69, $0.99 and $1.29.

Most app stores are geared to users of sophisticated smartphones, like the BlackBerry. But Verizon sees ample growth opportunities with selling mobile programs to non-smartphones (stupid phones?), and it has opened their app store for these devices. In actuality, this really is more of a re-launch of their application store. For years, Verizon Wireless has offered the "Get it Now" service, which had applications for many different types of phones, non-smartphones included. Overall, "Get it Now" was relatively trouble-free and, I'm sure, provided a more-than-acceptable revenue stream for the company.

However, by offering full songs (as opposed to just ringtones), Verizon is, I believe, attempting to prevent more defections to the iPhone ... and more importantly to AT&T - the only carrier for which the iPhone is approved. This also signals to all concerned that a deal that would make iPhones available on the Verizon network is highly unlikely. Which is too bad.

More information at InformationWeek: Verizon unveils Music, App Stores
Verizon Communications Inc.: VZ (NYSE)

Relational Networks adds packaged software to its SaaS mix

Just about every enterprise software vendor has released, or is making plans to release, a Software-as-a-Service version of their application. I'm working with a major Project Management Information System (PMIS) vendor to get their solution configured as Saas. And there are several consultancies that have built successful practices by exclusively focusing on implementations of SaaS solutions.

But now, at least one of those SaaS-only vendors has come to realize that there is some value in on-site installations. Relational Networks, a California company that provides Web-based CRM to the media industry, is gearing up two complementary offerings. One is a private, cloud-based implementation of the application called LongJump. The other is a packaged version of LongJump for on-site installation. The company recognized that, for all of the benefits of a SaaS solution, there is simply no workaround for some of the regulatory and compliance issues that arise. It's much more than a lack of understanding about the well-documented and sophisticated security practices that industry leaders (like Salesforce.com, Oracle, and Microsoft) have implemented. For some industries, it's illegal for a company to co-locate their data on the same physical devices as other companies. I wonder what other SaaS-only vendors will come to this conclusion; and which will make a strategic (and wise) decision to focus on what they do well.

Read more at CIO.com: SaaS vendor converts to packaged software

RIM announces a big 4th quarter

Research in Motion (RIMM NASDAQ) announced results for the quarter & year that ended on February 28, 2009. And on Friday, their stock was up over 20% (as of 3:30pm EDT). Based on that, you'd expect that their performance for the 4th quarter was pretty good, and you'd be absolutely correct. Revenue for the quarter was more than 80% higher than the same period previous year, and nearly 25% higher than the quarter that preceded it. The company's announcement also states "approximately 3.9 million net new BlackBerry® subscriber accounts were added in the quarter. At the end of the quarter, the total BlackBerry® subscriber account base was approximately 25 million."

Considering the fact that the three months that ended in February included some of the most difficult business conditions of the past 30 years, this is quite an accomplishment. Plus, the company expects to add another 3.7-3.9 million subscribers in the first fiscal quarter of 2009. We are already two-thirds of the way through that quarter, and I would suspect that this projections is going to be fairly accurate.

The key to sustaining this performance, of course, will hinge on RIM's ability to produce some innovative new products this year. Its only viable competitor is the iPhone, and it continues to maintain its hold on the public's imagination. And Apple is promsing to make the iPhone even better later this year.

RIM could end up buying Palm, but that would only create more customer churn in the market. If the BlackBerry can enable corporate users to seamlessly access internal resources, while taking advantage of Web 2.0 functionality, that would, I believe, solidify their position as the corporate standard for mobile devices.

Research in Motion's 4^th Quarter Results

Apple reasserts control over the iPhone

Apple has updated their developer program license agreement. By adding a few new clauses, the company now prohibits the distribution of iPhone applications by any means besides the App Store. The new agreement also explicitly forbids "jailbreaking" the device. Jailbreaking gives developers access to the Unix core of the iPhone OS, and it enables users to do things that Apple wishes they wouldn't.

In my view, this basically gives the company a legal way of defending itself against someone suing them for cutting them off from the App Store. The underground developers aren't going to abide by this agreement any more than they were abiding the by the original one. But if Apple releases a "patch" that targets one of those underground apps, then the developers will find it very difficult to find a remedy in the courts. I only see Apple doing this if they find that the application is compromising the operation of the phone in some way. But it is pretty typical of the tight control they have exercised over their products in the past.

iPhone users now have even more reason to be circumspect as to teh applications they load on their devices.

Read more at InformationWeek.com: Apple Cracking Down On Rogue Apps