Verizon Wireless announced that it plans to join the Joint Innovation Lab (JIL) established by China Mobile, Softbank and Vodafone to help accelerate the uptake of mobile internet use on a mass-market scale. As a result, JIL will have a combined customer reach of approximately 1 billion consumers. The JIL will initially focus on creating a single global platform for developers to encourage the creation of a wide range of innovative and useful mobile widgets. These mobile widgets will be capable of enhancing the mobile internet experience on a variety of smartphones as well as mid- and low-cost handsets on multiple operating systems. As part of this initiative, the JIL plans to launch later this year a range of tools to encourage innovation among global mobile developers. The tools include: a common mobile widgets specification; easy-to-use developer kits; and an online repository, distribution and payment mechanism to ensure developers can roll out their products to customers in more than 70 countries across North America, Asia, Europe and Africa. The JIL has been working in close cooperation with a range of industry standards bodies such as the OMTP and the GSMA to outline specifications that will make it easier for developers to create widgets that run on a wide range of handsets, operating systems and networks.
