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Verizon Partners with Healthcare Technology Providers to Improve Our World

Throughout history, pioneers have conquered humanity’s biggest challenges. What’s the Next Big Thing that will change our world? What will be your legacy? With Verizon’s powerful network and the Verizon Developer Community behind you, you can make your ideas real and create the kind of lasting impact that could affect millions of lives.

That’s why Verizon is announcing the Powerful Answers Award, with $10 million USD in prizes available, a call for all innovators to submit their best new products and ideas. It’s an opportunity to spark the kind of innovative thinking and creative problem-solving that result in truly powerful answers.

With help from partners and developers in healthcare, Verizon is enabling real-time, remote and mobile access to vital information that helps give a fighting chance to those who are far from the right doctor:

• Verizon & AirStrip™ Technologies allow physicians to monitor patient information from their mobile devices. Through Verizon’s reliable network, AirStrip™ applications allow secure, real-time access to patient information and tools that allow timely clinical decision-making to promote better patient outcomes. Learn more about AirStrip™ applications here: (http://industries.vzwb2bsolutions.com/media/71999/1685_VWR10009_AirStripTech_03_03.pdf)
• The HCR Home Care team invested in customized software on Verizon Android devices to lighten the load for its mobile caregivers and streamline its entire electronic medical record (EMR) data system. That system allows the team’s nurses, therapists and aides to capture more accurate information and access critical patient data on the go. Learn more: (http://d2uthp3k407uvc.cloudfront.net/files/2012/09/VWR20009_CS_HRC_V2a_chi.pdf)
• In Motion Technology and Verizon streamlined transmission of vital patient data back to hospitals over Verizon’s powerful 4G LTE network, resulting in shorter response times and accelerated patient care.  Now hospitals and first responders can collaborate faster and more effectively so that ER physicians are better prepared for patients before their arrival. Learn more about this technology here: (http://www22.verizon.com/powerfulanswers/remote-health/)

The world’s biggest challenges deserve even bigger solutions. Imagine how your idea can be transformed into a powerful answer with the VDC by your side. By entering Verizon’s Powerful Answers Award, you could be rewarded for pioneering an idea, leveraging Verizon technology that makes a real difference in the lives of others. Explore additional content from VDC to spark your next idea. Sometimes even the smallest solutions can have a big impact.

For more information and to enter Verizon’s Powerful Answers Award click here

To explore the Verizon Developer Community and find out how developers are leveraging Verizon technology in innovative new ways register with the VDC

No Purchase Necessary to Enter or Win. Contest starts 4/3/13 and ends 11/30/13.  Open to individuals 18 yrs or older and valid legal entities.  Void where prohibited & restricted by law.  For official rules, go to POWERFULANSWERSAWARD.COM.  Sponsor: Verizon Communications.

We all know how quickly a parking spot can be taken. When Aashish Dalal and Jon Thornton developed ParkWhiz, an app allowing people find parking, comparing price, location and amenities from anywhere in the US, they knew settling for anything less than full 4G LTE could prove disastrous. Thankfully, Verizon’s unparalleled network was available to leverage.

In order to use ParkWhiz, all a user needs to do is download the app, and when they find parking they like, lock it in by reserving a spot with one click. The user will instantly receive an electronic parking pass to print at their convenience or use on their smartphone. The spot is guaranteed and there are no extra fees or surcharges.

Meanwhile, Verizon technology helps facilitate this process by providing an unmatched network connection, allowing the ParkWhiz app to connect to consumers in real-time. Verizon's reliable network also allows for development of e-tickets to reserve parking via mobile.

Apps, especially ones such as ParkWhiz, wouldn’t always reach their full potential without the power of Verizon’s lightning fast 4G LTE network. The Verizon Developer Community can help facilitate these types of connections by providing expert advice on the latest devices and network capabilities, allowing developers to establish connectivity on products they could have never dreamed of.

The VDC can also help provide guidance on how to develop for specific mobile devices, as well as how your current projects could be enhanced with 4G LTE.  The VDC also offers resources on how to make your application 4G optimized, and we offer several network APIs.

Register with the VDC to keep up with the latest developments in Verizon technology, and find out how developers are leveraging Verizon technology in innovative new ways.

The VDC has both the tools and resources to help kick your app development off on the right foot.

Developing an app is part art, part science. A creative idea is key, but nailing down a strategic development plan can be just as critical for success. The Verizon Developer Community can be a powerful resource, helping developers overcome challenges and providing unique APIs and essential tools and resources for elevating app capabilities.

The Verizon Developer Community supports a wide variety of development paths. Developers can access detailed information on a variety of devices and platforms located in the Verizon Dev Center. Leverage our resources to develop for Android devices, the fastest growing platform in the market. Or utilize Verizon’s extensive Blackberry resources, including those for the newly released Blackberry 10 platform, to develop for RIM handsets. Amp up the speed on your application with Verizon’s lightning-fast 4G LTE, or discover the latest widgets available on Verizon’s FiOS platform. Developers can also infuse applications with Verizon Network APIs such as SMS, MMS and Terminal Location.

But the tools and resources offered by the Verizon Developer Community go beyond app development. The Verizon Developer Community can help with important early stage decisions such as:

• Choosing a native platform
• Universal vs. device-centric
• Developing a native app vs. web app
• Free vs. paid download

Additionally, if you’ve decided to create an app for business, save time and avoid pitfalls by consulting these app development tips, available along with many other resources in the Verizon Solutions Lab.

Check out the VDC webinar schedule for exciting trainings hosted by leading industry experts, and register for the VDC to stay in the know throughout 2013.

Mobile payment applications are increasingly becoming the preferred choice of payment on the go due to the simplicity and ease of the application. Just as credit cards ushered in a new era of paperless payment, mobile payment applications are poised to disrupt the payments industry by providing a simple to use, streamlined payment process, all via smartphone or tablet.

And while mobile payment adoption continues to grow at an exponential rate, vendors and developers alike are seeking out the best resources to quickly develop, test, and promote these highly useful apps.  

For the developers behind the mobile apps taking the market by storm, the VDC has both the tools and resources to help create connections between experts and developers seeking to accelerate their learning curve. 

“There have been several occasions where I’ve passed a vendor at my local farmer’s market with no cash in my pocket,” explains Alaia Williams, owner of One Organized Business, a small business that provides professional organizing services for companies. “But when those vendors use mobile payment systems such as Intuit® GoPayment,” she says, “I’ve made purchases that wouldn’t have happened if they were a cash-only operation.”
[Verizon Solutions Lab article]

Not only is every sale more convenient with Intuit® GoPayment, but Verizon allows for secure and speedy transaction processing over America's fastest 4G LTE network, as well as seamless back-end system integration with QuickBooks and major credit cards, including VISA, MasterCard, Discover and American Express across both Android and iPhone devices.

Keep your edge with VDC resources at your fingertips and learn more about exciting new Verizon facilitated mobile technology by joining the Verizon Developer Community.

Tablets offer a great opportunity for mobile developers to create compelling, engaging apps, and to monetize their work. Though, in order to fully take advantage of the tablet boom, developers need to understand the devices and how people use them – which is quite different from how they use phones. Tablets aren’t just a bigger screen, they’re a different experience.

Tablet sales booming

Tablet sales are really taking off. In the third quarter of this year, nearly 28 million were sold, which is 50% higher than last year. iPads represent about half of those, with the remainder being Android tablets. Research from the Online Publishers Association says there are now about 75 million tablet users in the US, triple the number from 2011.

But the good news for developers isn’t just the size of the market, it’s that tablet users are also more willing to pay for content. AppAnnie, an app store research firm, says that iPad apps generate 2.4x the revenue of iPhone apps on average. This is also true on Android, where owners of tablets display similar app purchasing behavior as iPad users – which is great news for Android developers struggling to make money on handsets.

Not just big screens

It’s important to understand how the sizes and capabilities of tablets affect usage. Their size makes them more “portable” than mobile. This means that users aren’t likely to use them while in motion, as they are phones. Tablet usage tends to be more nomadic, where a user will go to a place, sit down, and then use their tablet.

What may be more surprising is that the most popular place for people to use their tablet is at home. Research has shown that tablets are used at home 67% of the time, and Google research reported that the most common places for tablet Usage were:

• Couch
• Bed
• Home
• Table
• Kitchen

This has an effect on the activities people do on their tablets. The OPA survey found a lot of interest in watching videos and accessing news and information content, including newspapers and magazines. There is a clear trend of content consumption, and not as much content creation as you see on mobile phones. Furthermore, tablets are dislodging laptops and PCs. Three quarters of tablet owners say their laptop usage decreased after they got a tablet, and nearly 30% say that a tablet is now their primary computer.

Given these characteristics, there are three key questions to keep in mind when creating your tablet app:

• Where will people use the app on a tablet? Home, work, cafes, public transit, elsewhere?
• What’s the period of time they’ll use it for? Mobile phone apps are often geared towards quick, bite-size experiences, but tablet users may be prepared (or expect) longer sessions.
• What are the types of activities they will (and won’t) want to do on a tablet?

Creating your tablet apps

The screen size is the most obvious difference between tablets and phones, which means your apps should be optimized for these larger screens. Keep in mind optimizing doesn’t simply mean “make it bigger”. You need to consider spacing, size and legibility of your UI elements (for instance, making buttons a more suitable size), and how you will use the extra screen size to your advantage.

Developers should also consider the features of the tablet vs. a phone. The biggest example here is a telephone – most tablets don’t have them. And while most tablets do have GPS, it’s pretty unrealistic to think that a user would like to take a tablet along on a jog to track how far they run.

Lastly, when you’re publishing a tablet version of your phone app, try to use a single file in app stores. Having multiple files will split your ratings and complicate searching. Also, be sure to include the tablet version of your app in your screenshots, descriptions and marketing materials. Give your tablet app the attention it deserves when developing and promoting and it will demand that same attention from consumers.