Verizon adds Kiip rewards, Retailigence product info to developer toolkit

At its annual Verizon Developer Community Conference in Las Vegas, Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) announced the addition of new third-party tools and services designed to enhance mobile application functionality.

The new tools include the Kiip SDK for Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS and Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android. Kiip partners with brands to offer consumers rewards for playing mobile games, enabling advertisers to connect with subscribers at key moments while enabling developers to increase user retention and generate incremental revenue. 

Verizon Wireless is also partnering with Retailigence, whose API enables applications to deliver more accurate local product availability and pricing information to consumers who leverage their smartphones for on-the-go shopping assistance. The Retailigence API includes more than 5 million products and 65,000 store locations, directing consumers to the local retailers with the items they wish to purchase.

Also new: Footfeed, a white-label check-in platform supporting custom branded location-based campaigns, promotions and events that work with all major mobile geo-social networks. Footfeed-enabled apps can help increase participation in live events and drive traffic to retail locations.

The news follows Tuesday's announcement that Verizon Wireless will rebrand its V Cast Apps storefront as Verizon Apps. Also Tuesday, the operator unveiled its new Verizon Wireless Private Applications Store for Business, promising enterprise customers and business app developers a secure and customizable channel for delivering software solutions directly to the mobile workforce. Enterprises can leverage the Private Applications Store to create and oversee private mobile app storefronts containing only solutions authorized by the company for its employees and business partners.

"Workers demand to be mobile--if we don't give them the tools they want, they'll take them from the consumer world," vice president of Verizon Wireless' Business Solutions Group Janet Schijns said in an interview with FierceDeveloper. "But enterprises don't want to put their applications in a non-private app store. They want to keep their information safe and secure. Now you can download the apps you need from a branded store that offers the apps [your employer] wants you to have."

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