Verizon's V Cast Apps store is a go, first on BlackBerry Storm2
By Ross Miller 
posted March 31st 2010 7:31AM
posted March 31st 2010 7:31AM
Right on cue (sort of), Verizon Wireless' branded V Cast Apps market has finally seen the light of day. We've actually heard about the store since last summer, but it wasn't until the carrier's LTE forum at CTIA that we had a confirmed date. As noted then, the first device to get the portal is the BlackBerry Storm2, with other RIM devices (and hopefully other mobile platforms) in the coming months. It's not taking the place of BlackBerry App World, so now that we've got two coexisting markets on one device, it's time to see just how strong that V Cast branding is...[Thanks, Cameron]
Please, just be a dumb pipe and stop this nonsense.
@JFH
This looks like it's going to fail. And realeasing it on on a Storm??!....LOL!
@JFH Blackberry app store? Not another company following in Apple's footsteps.
I still can't understand why Apple continues to get bad press, even though all other mobile manufacturers appear to want to 'copy' what they are doing, but with a few extra bells and whistles.
@Ignition1
Yes, the Storm release is interesting. The bigger problem however is that as long as Verizon, ATT etc think that they are the ones that should add value to the chain outside of being " just a carrier " rates will continue to be much higher than in the other western countries.
@Ruthless
People are not exactly copying Apple with this me thinks. Apple did great with the simplicity and design of the app store, thats true. On the other hand, they have a walled garden approach to content for their devices that just isnt very cool. Nobody is criticizing Apple for ease of use or design. Its the walled garden part. ( And the hypocrisy in patent disputes, and the use of words as magical to describe large Ipods)
@JFH Thats why alot of iPhone users jailbreak to get around that wall. A jailbroken iPhone is a beast on it's own. Hope Apple really comes out the gate swingin in June with there new iPhone. They kinda have to with the way current the current phone industry is headed. Let's see what happens. Gonna be a good year for cell phones competition and all.
@hated one
I cannot begin to explain to you the extent to which what you said was stupid. Just because your name is hated one, does not mean I will actually fulfill that dream of yours. I do not like the Iphone, correct. That does not have anything to do with the V Cast thing, which I described as being superfluous in the first comment. Nowhere did I comment on free vs not free...
I like to be able to install whatever I want on my device.
You, apparently, like to blurb kneejerk reactions on techblogs.
@Ruthless
Apple may have made the app store popular, but there were application stores way before Apple made them popular. I do want to thank them for making them more uniformed than they were previously, however.
@Ignition1
Storm 2 is the best phone I've ever used, period! Been on it none stop last two weeks, I am extremely happy.
I don't know what people are talking about, battery pulls and freezes ? etc.
Never had any batter pulls nor lock ups/freezes ... not even once.
Screen is a joy to use, 5 mails accounts, google talk and yahoo running constantly, switching between Pandora and slacker (depending on the next coming song) .... handles everything like a champ...
It has a scheduled reboot every night while I am sleeping which btw I had to do it myself with iphone...
@JFH Too true. Verizon has been one software train wreck after another...
I'm skeptical but hopefully there will be enough flashlight apps to make it work.
Verizon has a Vcast section in the Android App Market on the Droid. AM I missing something?
So is verizon going to start raping Android with their own app store the way AT&T is?
Hopefully not. Despite verizon being pretty notorious for doing so in the past.
Just what we needed, another app store that the big telcos will push on us.
What ever happened to standardization?
Oh right, they want to cash in on that multi billion dollar cow, so now we got segregation. Too bad all of those trying to join in on the fun (verizon, att, samsung) do not support their own product.
Maybe the Engadget app for the Storm 2 could be released there! Kidding aside, we're a Blackberry shop at work and I really do like the Storm 2 but had to give up the Engadget app when I migrated to it.
I'll check out the V-Cast app store, but I can't think that they're going to be releasing any compelling Verizon apps that aren't drop in replacements for apps in RIM's App World (example V Cast Song ID is pretty much the same functionality as Shazam) or tagged with a monthly fee. Could be wrong, we'll see.
When I had a storm I never liked any of Vcast stuff. Shit the Storm hardly worked at all as a phone period. 1st phone that I actually just whipped at a wall with how frustrated I was with it. Worst phone experience ever. 5
battery pulls a day cuz it would freeze on me all the time. That was enough for me to ditch Verizon and go to AT&T and get an iPhone. Couldn't be happier. Hoping for big things with the new iPhone!!!
If the incredible doesn't come out today or tommorow I'm going to snap and go live in a van down by the river.
I have a Storm 1.
I use the Crackberry.com App Store, pretty good, but locks up fro time to time.
I use the official Blackberry World Store, pretty slow and limited.
Now Verizon will push this crap store to me.
So which one is the best? None. I'm eager to jump to Android when the Incredible drops (soon, I hope).
The one thing about Verizon I was happy to ditch when switching to AT&T was their ridiculous insistence on VCast or whatever other Verizon-branded bloat they insisted on their phones having. A Verizon iPhone would be welcome in NYC, but good lord it better not have to be weighed down by this crap.
I know - Verizon's new revenue model: Vcast will be free. Turning it OFF will cost you $20/month.
@hated one
While I don't find this to be very useful because most smartphones these days have their own app stores, you can't really say Apple was the first to do it. Verizon has had a Vcast store for quite a while. All their old dumbphones had an app store where you could buy games, news apps, weather apps, etc.
Does anyone actually use this crap?
Or a Storm?
@Johnny Rockets Vcast - No, Storm - Yes (It's a great phone). It's time to retire the Storm bashing. OS 5.0 user know what I mean.
as a future former verizon customer, vcast sucks.
How does this differ (apart from its name) from the VZAppZone that has been available on ALL VZ BlackBerry devices for months now?
@jonnykelly Not all of them.
I still don't see this on my Storm 2. How do I get it?